Army defeats Navy 40-14
23 Nov 2009
by:
(Photo: Scott Strine, Jump71)
Army First XV v. Navy
Score: 40-14
Try Scorers: Peter Belden, Kevin Kerr, Ben Leatigaga, Miles Rowan (x2), and Latu Vaha’i
Conversions: Dom Latino (2 for 6)
Penalty Kicks: Dom Latino (2 for 3)
Man of the Match: Peter Belden
Scoreline:
West Point showed up to play on Saturday when they faced the Navy Midshipmen at the Anderson Rugby Complex. The game opened with West Point receiving the ball, and after a knock on infringement inside the 22, Navy seemed to have the momentum for the first try opportunity. However, the Black Knights were able to win back the ball after a few phases by the midshipmen. Working their way down the field, West Point took advantage of a few Navy penalties and after Navy was caught with hands in the ruck just inside their 22, West Point had their first chance to strike. Dom Latino took the penalty kick to put the first points on the board. This calmed the nerves for West Point, as they opened up from there. Following the restart kick and trading possession twice over, West Point ran an attack after poaching the ball in contact at about midfield. They moved the ball through the back line and put it in the hands of Ben Leatigaga who took off down the sideline for the first try of the match. The West Point pack seemed to have no problem during the match, securing all their ball, and taking some 50% of Navy’s in the first half. At the seventeen minute mark, West Point had a 5m attacking scrum. Belden picked it from the back of the scrum and was tackled by the Navy scrumhalf. Miles Rowan, coming out of the scrum, picked the ball from the breakdown and drove it into the try zone for West Point’s second try. Not long after that, West Point took a lineout at the 22m heading toward their try zone. After winning the lineout and running a phase in tight, they were able to move the ball out wide from Rowan, to Geib, to Latino, all the way out to Latu Vaha’i on the wing who dove in for the try. To close out the first half, West Point bumped up the score a little higher. With an opportunity for a scrum on the Navy 5m, West Point took their chance. The pack pushed Navy back all the way to the tryline, where Peter Belden picked it from the back of the scrum and dove in for the try, giving the Black Knights a 25-0 lead going into the halftime break.
Navy would strike first in the second half. Following a lineout at the 5m, West Point was called for sacking the maul. Navy took the quick tap penalty and was able to score, 25-7. The next ten minutes would prove to be a hard fought battle on both sides of the ball; both teams fighting for field position. Following a Navy offsides penalty, their third of the half, Dom Latino would end the scoring drought, converting a penalty, increasing the lead, 28-7. Not long after this score, West Point would threaten again around midfield. After several phases of work around the breakdown, the Black Knights moved the ball to flyhalf Dave Geib who pulled the ball to Belden fixing the last defender. Belden then pulled the ball to Kerr who carried the next 30 meters for the try, only after running over Navy’s last defender at the try line. West Point’s last score of the half would come from Miles Rowan. After winning a lineout inside Navy’s 22m, the Black Knights drove the maul within 5 meters of the try zone before it was sacked. Rowan came around the breakdown and picked the ball where he then drove it in through the Navy defense for the try. This score capped the 40-14 win over the Navy Midshipmen, and another great fall season for Army Rugby.