Nearly Men not so nearly this time

The Red Tide wrapped up its Fall league season this past weekend with the longest of road trips to Hartford. Normally you couldn't imagine a greater a greater strain on the club than a 4-hour road trip in November at the end of a losing campaign. But not so this year, with 25 guys boarding the bus in Portland with several others traveling directly. Whatever the outcome, by this measure alone I do declare the state of our union to be in robust health.

Four hours on the bus gave us plenty of time to cover all of the pressing issues of the day, including TABOR, Evangelical hypocrisy, and whether we were better off taking sides with the Aliens or the Predators. With such weighty issues to occupy our minds the trip flew by and we soon found ourselves pulling up at the very pleasant Irish Cultural Center in Glastonbury.

Despite the long ride, Portland uncharacteristically came out of the gates at a blistering pace, no doubt proving to be a bit more of a handful than Hartford was expecting. WTF Hartford, don't you read the match reports? Just because we were 1-6, it didn't mean we were going to be a pushover.

Sure enough Portland took an early lead, after piling on the pressure and stringing together some good passes to send Dan Joyce over for the first score. Andy Nelson made the tough conversion, and Portland opened a 7-point lead.

The visitors were soon at it again, this time seeing Scotty Derrig hauled down by his collar just feet short of the line and earning us a penalty try. The conversion was a formality, and before you knew what was going on Portland had a 14-0 lead. Unfamiliar territory for a side that has more often than not been giving up early points rather than scoring them.

Hartford were clearly stung to life by this early onslaught, and soon registered their first points thanks to some confusion on a goal line clearance. They soon followed up with another score, and Portland were able to cling on to a slender lead thanks only to a missed conversion from Hartford.

Portland showed some character and struck back themselves, with Jerry Alves intercepting a midfield pass and running it back for a try under the posts. With that the scoreline stood at 21-12 in Portland's favor, although it wasn't to remain that way for long as Hartford scored again on the stroke of full time, and again only that missed conversion separated the two sides.

After the break both sides traded penalties to maintain the points gap, and then tempers that had been on a low simmer all day finally boiled over and a big fight broke out. I wont incriminate anyone by speculating as to who from Hartford started it, but everyone felt the need to join in, and several sub-fights broke out across the field. Clearly the ref had no idea who started it, and even after consulting with his mentor on the sidelines, he decided that both sides were equally to blame and handed out a yellow card to the Hartford Captain (oh, the shame) and Mike DeSalle. Both had five minutes to stand under the goalposts and cool off.

Whatever the body count, Portland seemed a little shell shocked after the brawl, while the Hartford side became emboldened and began running the ball hard both in the forwards and along their backline. Injuries and inexperience began to take their toll as Portland's defense fell away, ultimately yielding 22 unanswered points in the final third of the match. A disappointing end to a game that had started with such promise.

Once again it was left to the B-side to lift our spirits, who fought their way out of a two-try hole in the first half to come back and win by a score. After seemingly being out of it at half time, the Killer B's dug deep and continued to hold on to the ball well; keeping faith in their good handling and support play. The crowning moment came with just seconds to spare when Josh fed the ball to Tractor, who broke a couple of tackles before being held up and dishing to Frenchy for the final score.

Post match honors went to Evan Harding in the A Game, for being the catalyst for our first half offense, and to Murph for his B Side performance that included his first Portland try.

After driving round in circles for an hour to find Spyder a liquor store we finally hit the road for the long trek home. Thanks to Jeff Keating as always for the musical accompaniment, which always helps the trip slip by. Thanks also to the Predators for coming back to Earth to eliminate the Alien scourge, even if only for about 175 years until that run in with the Nostromo.

But I digress.

So that closes the book on another season, and another year for Portland Rugby Club. Some recent disappointments but also plenty of highs to look back on from earlier in the year. It's been a fun time, but to paraphrase Mark Twain, the longest decade of my life was the year I spent as Portland captain. It's been an honor, and I miss you all already.

Stay tuned here for news about the banquet, other club goings-on, and of course, whatever else pops into my head.

Cheers.