1st XV Tie NYAC 17-17
06 Oct 2009
by: CDT D. Latino
West Point First XV 17- NYAC 17
Try Scorers: Andrew Dill, Ben Leatigaga
Conversions: Dom Latino 1(1), Dave Geib 1(1)
Penalties: Dom Latino 1(2), Dave Geib 0(1)
Match Notes: This was First XV’s first match of the year, and capped off the team's lengthy preseason preparations. Army started off the match aggressively, spending much of the first half inside NYAC's 22. However, NYAC was able to tighten up and prevent Army from capitalizing on most of their position. NYAC started the scoring with a try off of a scrum from the Army 5 meter. The scrum was Army's but NYAC stole it and dove in for the try. The conversion failed, to make the score 0-5. West Point’s players were well drilled and forced NYAC to make mistakes which they did in the form of penalties. While missing their first shot at goal due to a penalty, Army answered quickly with Dom Latino’s kick for points due to a NYAC offsides call near the 22m, making the score 3-5. Unfortunately, on the ensuing kickoff, NYAC would win possession, run several phases and score their second try, bumping the lead back up to now 3-12. Not to be outdone going into the half, Army was able to apply pressure as they had in the early going and scored a try from 40 meters out. On a first phase possession, Army ran a great set of lines, putting the ball in the hands of fullback Latu Vaha’i in space who made 2 defenders miss before passing to wing Ben Leatigaga in space. He then made it around the outside of the NYAC defense to score the try. The conversion was made and the score was 10-12 going into the locker room at half.
The second half was hard fought with both sides struggling to gain the upper hand. A series of early efforts got Army inside the NYAC 5 meter line, but even with NYAC’s 3 penalties in a span of 2 minutes, Army could not convert the errors into points. Extra energy was squeezed out of the team when a host of four impact substitutions came on at the 10-15 minute mark. It was then that the team began to go forward again, this time to within the NYAC 5 meter. To get there, Army flyhalf Dave Geib kicked a beautiful chip and chase to inside the NYAC 10, which wing Joe Gardner used to apply huge pressure on the return. As NYAC tried to clear their lines with their own kick, Geib burst around the breakdown to block the kick. In the ensuing ruck, the ball popped out and bounced into the hands of center Andrew Dill, who acted quickly and used a strong leg drive through tackles to score the try and put Army ahead. The try was converted and Army was ahead 17-12. As time was running out NYAC was able to even the score. They used size to their advantage and mauled off of a lineout from about ten meters out all the way in for the try. The conversion failed and the whistle was immediately blown signaling the end of the game. It was a hard fought game and it ended in a tie 17-17.
Next Match: West Point’s First XV next play on 17 October 2009 when they host their first league match against Northeastern at Anderson Rugby Complex.