So, at last we've got some news that might keep Striper Jesse off the Comments for more than 5 minutes. Sure, it took Portland winning the D2 NERFU Cup in Newport to do it, but hey, I think even Paris Hilton craves attention less than he does.
Anyway, moving on...
History, they say, is written by the victors, so I'll be damned if that doesn't make me a Historian - instead of just a lazy, layabout with too much time on his hands. Aw yeah...sweet validation.
So last Friday rolls around, and since Newport is involved, you can guarantee that it was raining. Nevertheless, many of the Portland faithful began their long journey down south ready for the early start against our fellow road-warriors from Burlington. Some had easier journeys than others; some even decided to detour through Connecticut, but as the rain continued to lash down and the night drew to a close, all across Rhode Island and Southern Massachusetts little groups of Portland players were huddled together (but not too close together), steeling themselves for the weekend ahead.
Saturday dawned with the rain giving way to mist and drizzle, which eventually gave way to just cold and damp. Portland staked their claim on the overlooking hillside, and with some typical ingenuity from Ed, Jacko & Francis, they had soon constructed a shelter (with heating even) that was to keep Francis' girlfriend warm and dry all day.
Thanks to our performance in the Fall we had been labeled with the #8 seeding position, which meant a draw against the #1 seed Burlington in the first round. Thankfully 6-months is a long time in New England rugby, and the timing and location of the NERFU tourney tend to level the playing field somewhat, unless of course this happens to be your home ground, but more on that later.
Portland elected for mobility over size for the first half of the Burlington match, fielding a significantly smaller pack in the hope that they were better suited for the breakneck pace of the 25 minute halves. As a result Portland managed to play the more expansive style of rugby without giving up too much in the set piece. Indeed, Portland's M.O. for most of the weekend was to shift the ball wide and take advantage of the speed, power and pure crankiness of our wings Fred Hayman & Matt Winch and fullback Scotty Derrig.
Faced with the same lady-ref that had overseen our love-fest against Charles River earlier in the season, Portland displayed much better discipline, and kept their minds focused on playing a fast paced game. Since a lot of rugby came and went after the Burlington game I can't remember much about who scored when, but I do know that the final was 15-5 in Portland's favor, no doubt with Andy Nelson slotting a few goals to make the margin more comfortable.
Andy's kicking was to be another theme of the weekend, as our opponents were quietly taken out of contention by his relentless accuracy. The beauty of Andy's kicking is that nobody takes the threat seriously when they see the Number 3 jersey step up to take the penalty. Before they know it however Andy's kicked a 9-point cushion that just knocks the wind out of their sails. The Velvet Hammer indeed.
Having kicked off early, Portland had the advantage of watching their next opponent be determined as Providence squared off against Hartford. In a close fought match the difference proved to be the Providence kicker, who was able to punish indiscipline from long range and some extreme angles and effectively kicked his side into the semi-finals.
As is the way at Newport there is always plenty of time to sit around and stiffen up, with 5 hours between the first round game and the semi. There was also plenty of rugby to watch, including a barnstormer of a semi-final between Newport and Charles River that opened to the strains of AC/DC's Thunderstruck and a blatant clothesline from one of the Newport forwards. The game remained ill-tempered throughout, but in the end Newport ahem..."muscled" their way into the final. But who would they play? Portland or Providence? Read on and find out...
The other semi-final proved to be another tight match, with the Providence side certainly fired up to set up an all-Rhode Island final. Again the opposing pack threw the kitchen sink and it was up to Portland to bend but not break. Working in our favor, the Providence fly-half who had kicked apart Hartford earlier, had gone completely cold and proceeded to pass up some relatively easy points that might have put the game beyond doubt.
Nevertheless, as the clock ticked down Portland found themselves trailing 13-15, and a breakthrough looked hard to find. Pushing for the line, the Portland pack was held up at the Providence 22 but was able to maintain possession. Recycling quickly, the ball found Evan in space some 30 meters out (I reckon). Probably against most people's better judgement he instantly took a crack at goal, hitting the ball so sweetly that it was still climbing as it sailed through the uprights. 16-15 Portland, and that's how it remained as Providence failed to find either the time or the spirit to recover from Evan's coup de grace.
And so a place in the final had been secured for the following day, but not without its price. Hannes had been sidelined in the dying minutes of the semi-final when asked to execute a crash ball that Providence had seen coming down Rt. 24 several hours before. His tournament ended there, but not before making a huge contribution to the team's success.
The tournament ended there for several others, and while it may have been for less heroic reasons it probably was with less boozy results. Mike Babich had played his part in both games but was called away to start a new job the following day. Bubba left too, to "do some marking" and dragged his friend Josh home with him. Panic began to set in a little at this point, and many frantic calls were made back to the mother ship to rustle up some support. Unlike the days of yore however, when Frenchy and Matt Boyer drove 6 hours to Syracuse for 40 minutes of rugby, nobody was willing to make the trip. Of course, gas was 10 cents a gallon cheaper then.
A quick survey of those that remained revealed that being in the final was uncharted territory for everyone. Even Uncle Jerry hadn't been there before. Thus a solemn pact was sworn to "take it easy" that night, so that everyone could perform their best in the final. Now of course, "take it easy" is such a subjective term, and it was left to each player to interpret it themselves. For some it meant a high protein meal and some Lunesta, while for others it meant a 12 pack and a slice of pizza.
Fortunately however most chose discretion, and the squad re-assembled more or less on time on another overcast and damp morning. Clearly the Newport club was out in force to support their boys as the green and blue jackets lined the field. Like Spartans to their Persians, Portland by contrast formed a tight knit group on the side of the field, keeping to themselves, going through the usual warm up.
The final kicked off in a similar vein to the Providence match, with Newport's heavier pack looking to play the game up front while Portland looked to spin it wide. Francis had stepped into the hole left by Hannes, bringing some welcome beef to the pack, and J-Wil, Derik and Andy held their own against a much larger front row. The extra mobility paid off however as the Portland pack proceeded to tackle everything that moved and snuff out much of the Newport offense.
Portland were able to use some early possession to their advantage, as Evan's well placed cross-field kick bounced favorably and allowed Matt Winch to use his height advantage and grab the loose ball and touch down in the corner. Andy had a rare miss, but first blood had been drawn.
Not long afterwards Portland were able to score again, this time with Ryan Facey darting over the line from some kind of pile up. This time Andy had no trouble, and before you knew it Portland had a 12-0 lead that gave our boys some breathing room.
Not that Newport were taking it lying down mind you, and they continued to batter the ball up front as much as possible. A lot of the middle section of the match gets a little blurry for me. I know Andy had another penalty before the half and I remember half time being the first time that I thought we might be able to pull this off.
In the second half Newport must have come back and scored some points but so did Portland, with Evan kicking his now customary drop goal, and Freddy skidding in to the corner on his chest from about 5 meters out. Andy missed that conversion but kicked two more penalties to maintain the margin. The cat calls from the Newport sideline that had greeted Andy's first crack at goal had now diminished to silence as his boot kept the home side out of reach.
By this time tempers had begun to fray and the cards started flying, but fortunately Portland kept their calm (mostly) and remained focused on the job in hand. Newport had a late flurry and crashed over with another score, but as everyone pointed out to me after my hissy fit, it was just a little too late. The final whistle blew and the scoreline read 29-17. Portland had got 'er done.
So let's see...who hasn't got a metion yet? Steve Stewart, Jeff Keating and Ben Gurney put on a tackling clinic all weekend. Nothing was too big or moving too fast for them to lower the shoulder in to. Jacko and Jerry Alves played with equal measures of brains and braun, shipping it wide when we could but sucking it up and taking the hit when there was nothing on.
Of course, huge thanks got to the rest of the Red Army who traveled, even if they never made it on to the pitch. Ed, Devon, Gus, Murph, and Richard all kitted up and were ready to go at a moments notice. On the shoulders of giants, lads.
Thanks to Leo for his support all weekend, and for single handedly helping Newport turn a profit on the whole weekend with his endless trips to the beer and food tent. Huge thanks should also go to Mike for putting up half the team and not kicking them all out when Ryan flooded the bath room.
Coaches Diesel and Johnny deserve a shout out for putting us through the wringer all Spring, and I've even got love for all you bastards who wouldn't answer your phone on Saturday night.
So that's about it. Cup and League double anyone?
Lots of pictures here.
