The weather forecast said "scattered showers", but it was a steady rain that greeted fans and players alike this past Saturday. Just the kind of steady rain that has come to be known as "Portland weather". Nevertheless, after a couple of near misses Portland finally got the win they've been looking for, galloping home in grand style against the visitors, Springfield.
Despite an optimistic outlook leading up to this fixture, Portland began nervously, taken aback by by Springfield's early aggression, as they ran a number of quick penalties to gain some significant ground.
Slowly however Portland began to come to life, and it was Ryan Facey, in his first start as A-side scrum half, who got the party started with a 50 yd. breakaway try, leaving Springfield with little to show for their earlier territorial advantage.
From that point onwards Portland began to play (and score) more freely. Initally, given the conditions, it was left to the forwards to do much of the heavy lifting, but after a fair degree of whining from the backs, and with a comfortable points margin established, Portland began to swing the ball around.
For the balance of the half Portland controlled the game, thanks in large part to the kicking of Evan Harding, who would go on to earn Man of the Match for his efforts.
Towards the break Portland went off the boil a little, although much of the damage had already been done. Halftime saw some fresh legs come on in the front row to continue the pressure on the Springfield pack. As usual however, the break in play caused Portland to loose their rhythm, which Springfield were able to exploit by running in their solitary try of the day.
Stung in to action by the lapse of concentration, the home side set about regaining control, and despite several more substitutions they continued to run the show, scoring at will.
All in all, nine tries were scored. Three to Hannes, two to Ryan, and one each for (I think) myself, Jarred, Tom Zabriski and Dan Joyce. If I've got that wrong, please correct me in the comments section below. What I am sure about however is that the final score was 62-5, a just reward for all the hard work put in the preceeding week. Mark Griffin also made 7 of 9 conversion attempts, plus one penalty for a solid day with the boot.
Some great pics of the A game first-half can be found here, and come to us courtesy of Eric Holsinger.
The B game provided more of the same, with Portland dominating a Springfield team that was playing its second game of the day. The scoreline and the scorers are unknown (to me), but if you were involved, please regail us with your exploits in the comments section below. B side Man of the Match went to Ben.
Portland travels to Charles River this coming weekend, who put up similar numbers against Springfield, so it promises to be another good game, for which all troops are required.
