West Potomac 52 - Happy Valley 7

UPDATED - Here's a link to pictures of the game

In a humid day in Maryland, the West Potomac Beavers came out prepared to take on Happy Valley.

West Pot struck early and often, although one player forgot to touch the ball down, in the first half with tries coming from Panic Jon, Michael, Church, Panic, and Michael again all in the first 30 minutes of the match. Support set up the tries as pop passes and timely outlet passes set up some well executed tries. Defensively, the West Potomac side controlled Happy Valley's attacks with strong tackling and several key contested rucks. The first half came to a close with West Pot up 31 nil.

The second half started slow and Happy Valley was able to roll a try through. The sloppy offensive play on West Pot's part contributed to Happy Valley's field position which ultimately set up their try. Rather than rest and allow Happy Valley a chance back into the game, the team rallied strongly in the final 30 minutes of the game and brought its form back to par. Three more tries were put
down as Michael, Jon, and Bible each scored in the second half. The final minutes of the game were filled with attacking action as Brent came in off the bench and had some long runs. A long run at the final whistle went unrewarded as a forward pass ended the match. It was great to see the effort in the last of 80 minutes in an already decided match. That type of effort will win the matches as the competition grows harder each week.

The tone of the match was set early with great tackling in the forwards led by Ray who stopped several Happy Valley plays in their tracks. The backline countered Happy Valley's kicking attacks well and prevented major ground from being gained. All in all West Pot played a very strong match and executed the game plan we set out earlier in the week. The big thing will be to put a solid 80 minutes of rugby together as the season continues. Get out to practice this week as it will be a fun time for all.

FHV could not travel with a b-side so an inner-squad scrimmage was setup. Young vs. Not Young battled it out. Tyler picked up his second try and Michael (a different one) scored his first try on a great play with Panic.

Man of the match went to Jon for great play throughout the match and his two tries.

Tries:
Michael x3
Jon x2
Panic x1
Church x1
Bible x1

Conversions:
Bible 6/8