After a flat trip to Norfolk the week before it took 50 minutes before Frederick found the heart and desire to play the rugby that this talented squad are capable of producing. The conditions were good, 50F with a soft field and very little wind. Unfortunately the only sound in the first half was the referee’s whistle as Frederick secured 24 penalties in an attempt to gain entrance into the Guinness Book of Records!

The match was definitely a game of two halves. In the first half the set pieces were very shaky. Scrums were disrupted (not pleasant for a #8) with wheeling and good pressure from a big Gorge tight five and the lineout just was not functioning. Rocky Gorge got their tails up with a slotted penalty after just five minutes and this was quickly added to with a score by the home team’s left wing. Rocky Gorge led by 8. Frederick put some pressure on Gorge and was rewarded with a penalty slotted by Kenny Orndoff. However, another series of penalties given away by Frederick led to Rocky Gorge camping in our 22m for 10 minutes and a solid run by a big prop made Frederick look like a touch rugby squad. Rocky Gorge 15, Frederick 3. At this point, Frederick started to wake up and adjust to the match at hand. Ball was kept alive and tap penalties became our best possession. A period of pressure and series of charges finally resulted in Frederick breeching the home team defense for a try by Vince “Hollywood” Baker. This was quickly followed by a second penalty kick by Orndoff to make it Rocky Gorge 15, Frederick 11 by the half. Adjustments were made at the half with Al Goetz coming on as hooker and Jamie “Trigger” Romano bulking up the pack. Between the constant banter of scrum half Alex Agre and the precision of fly half Kenny Orndoff, the forwards were used to smash through the defense and the ensuing penalties were slotted. Kenny went 4 of 4 to a single kick by the home team to boost Frederick into a 23 - 18 lead. The final nail in the coffin came from new recruit Fain Moran who had subbed in for Baker. His intercepted pass and 70m run for a try between the posts was the last play of the match. The Orndoff conversion was made and the whistle blew. Final score Frederick 30, Rocky Gorge 18.

In the B-side match once again the halfbacks were the key unit. Scrum half Gary Burgess and fly half Jon Niles worked very well together releasing both backs and forwards in a rampant offensive display. Speedsters Saverio Roberto and Mike “Muscles” Depry scored early before Irvin “Arizona” Martin received the ball after some great passing to dot down in the right corner. Forwards were the recipients of the final two tries before the half, first Pete Ireland then Mike Tucci. With Jon Niles slotting 3 conversion to a single uncoverted try by the home team, Frederick led 31 - 5 at the half. In the second half Gorge struck back well with two converted tries before Frederick replied in kind with tries by Art Hall and Niles, both converted for a final score of Frederick 45, Rocky Gorge 19.

It was great to have some players back after a while, particularly Tommy “Tiny” Angel who made a very good start before deciding to take a rest and Saverio Roberto. Also, we had some great work done by Frederick’s new players. Fain made a big impact on the A-side linking up very well with Tobin “Trooper” Triebel in the back and worked hard in the B-side match. Jon Niles and Arizona also played extremely well. All three did a little (maybe the operative word here) Zulu run in the cold (put that in to save some self esteem) - it’s great for a Club to have 5 Zulus in just three weeks (remember Pete “Quick-Draw” Karacki and Mike “Piggy” Winpigler in Savannah) - lots of promise for the future. Also just wanted to give a big Frederick Rugby welcome to Adam Clark who played his first game of rugby as part of the winning B-side this Saturday. Congratulations to the MVPs Fain Moran and Jon Niles.