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Another glorious day in Southern Connecticut. Yes, glorious in Southern Connecticut is loosely translated as 40-45 degrees, with a mild horizontal rain pattern. I think Tony put it best while walking down to the pitch "Who peed in Mother Nature's cheerios?" Ok I am pretty sure he didn't say that but it would have been the quote of the day.
Anyway it was family day so everyone was trying to put a smile on their faces while putting up the tents and the gear for the day, when something miraculous happened.....it stop raining and actually held all day for a chilly but thankfully dry day. It was a great day and a ton of effort has been put in lately with all of the travel and preparation. Thanks to all that help and hopefully I caught everyone at the post game wrap up, but if not just remember that I had six beers and Monk slipped me a mickey before the speech. Seriously, I almost drop the cock award shot and came close to wining it yet again.
Onto the Actual game. The Yankees showed up with some young unproven talent and an eye toward the future. Unfortunately no one was watching the clock on their dashboard and the team showed up at around 1 for a 1:30 kickoff. Once the game started the young talent proved that it needed more time. The Old Blacks with some fresh legs due to the bye week started pouring through the open holes in the Yankee back line. Led by Pablo Perez the team took an early second phase ball and ran in an early try. Then directly off the kickoff the ball got spun wide and Jacko flew through a huge hole and put Crazy Dave away. The next 15 or so minutes saw the Old Blacks continue to turn on the gas and Pablo continued to put either himself or the rest of the back line into the try zone. When the Yanks did get the ball Guy Smiley, Amosa Lio, put the clamps on anyone that came near. With some serious head cracking that is sure to earn some playing time in Philly.
The half time festivities did not include anyone with a tank of propane and for the first time in memory it did not include a ripping from the Coach. I think that last part shocked everyone, but with the score 54-0 not much could be said. Luckily for me the ref blew the whistle rather quickly because I mean what do you honestly say at that point. Like any good back, I told the forwards that they were slacking.
The second half started a lot slower and the boys looked like they were ready to end it. Matty decided that the forwards needed a bit of glory though and decided to pour in 3 tries during the second half with a couple of nice balls of Dave Fisher taps and some serious leg drives (he told me he has been using the push mower at work lately).
Wholesale changes on both ends led to some sloppiness in the last 15-20 minutes. The Yankees started to get some good momentum and stayed inside the New Haven 22 for a good portion of the last 15 minutes. A few handling mistakes cost them a chance at a try and New Haven came away with the lopsided shutout 75-0.
The B side game brought about more of the same. The Yankees were not able to fully field a B side squad. One Yankee actually told me that they were unsure that we were fielding a B side. Ok either this guy was an idiot or the Mickey that Monk gave me had me hallucinating. Either way we were able to help with some of the boys from SCSU and our apologies to Brian for having to play over there. You almost made us pay, until you got caught in the open field by Mr. Salty. Maybe you needed to wear more fleece.....
Anyway, the B side came out strong, but everyone seemed to want to do a little too much early on. The team eventually settled down and started playing solid rugby and scoring trys. Jay Rubino had another great game coming through at pace and whacking people in the nuts with his elbows and putting in a couple of early tries of some good phase ball. His late game real gay wrestling match was the predictable lowlight of the afternoon but on the bright side no one can apply a front headlock like that besides the British Bulldogs.
Greg May's wing span stole a couple of balls and the pack drove the Yankees around the park with some really good loose play. Highlights on the afternoon included Monty Burns (Man of the Match) putting on the helmet and making it look like 1967 again. Kelly putting on the shoulder pads and looking pretty fit....ok not fit, but there was no need for any mouth to mouth and we can all be happy about that. Both the old boys looked good and it was good to see them out there making some noise.
The boys basically took the entire game to the Yankees and although some of the play was sloppy there were a ton of good ball movement and general solid play. All leading to a 49-5 victory for the second side. Thanks to Jacko and Longo for refereeing the game. Who knew that they both knew the rules?
The post match consisted of some oddly flavored brownies, cold Coors Light, Jarod's Sausage….and peppers, my meat sauce....and pasta and of course Christa handling it all on her own. Ok she had some help from random strangers who wanted to warm up and the famous Mr. Yeske. Thanks to everyone for chipping in and making it a great day.
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Match Results
