Gentlemen,
A very tough loss Saturday. I believe it was a game we dominated and through missed tackles and dropped balls we let this game slip away. Mistakes were the difference. The first half was excellent. The forwards rucked superbly creating excellent 2nd phase ball for our backline. Our backs ran the ball brilliantly. We were able to link repeatedly between the forwards and backs. A couple of penalties against the run of play let Cape Fear take an early 6-0 lead. Tex fielded an errant clearance kick by Cape Fear and launched a high ball down into Fear territory. Their fullback misjudged the ball and Darren "Fat Bastard" Scott pounced on the ball for the try. Our 2nd try was sweet. It was a perfect example of something we practiced well and then executed in the game. We took an excellent lineout ball fed off the top to Mike May who spun it to Mulli. Mulli looped Gimp to take the loop pass and sent it wide to Darren bursting into the line who then drew in the last defender and sent Tex away to the corner for an excellent try. Mulli added the conversion and another penalty in the half to go to the break 15-9 ahead. It was an excellent first half and several chances were missed in that half as well. Most notably two by myself due to my concrete block hands. Sometimes halftime is a bitch. This was one of those times. We came out in the 2nd half a little flat and let them pressure down in our half. We let their flyhalf jink through for an untouched try. Simple defensive mistake by not making our tackles. Their 2nd try probably p*sses me off the most. It was an area we were watching for and we didn't cover it. Their #8 took a pop pass from the flyhalf off of a lineout and went untouched for probably 40 meters. That gave them the lead. And they would keep the lead for the rest of the game. They added another try and we added a couple of penalties. We pressured for the rest of the half and we just could not convert that pressure into tries. Dropped balls and inopportune penalties gave them relief as we pressured. So the final score was 28-21 to Cape Fear. And unfortunately that knocks us out of the playoffs. Saturday was a perfect example how you lose games by mistakes and not taking your chances when you have them.

Pride was restored by an excellent win from our B-side in the 2nd game by 4 tries to two. Crazy Joe led the way with 2 followed by Mulli and the Anderson College captain. Good job guys. That makes our B-side 5-1 for the season.

Now we focus on our last game of the season. It is at home against Atlanta Renegades B. We are 4-4 right now so let's finish out this season right with a good win this weekend. We are 3-2 in the league lets go 4-2 and finish with a 5-4 record. We are playing good rugby and let's finish out the season with a barnstorming win this weekend.

Dan Roberts
Coach Greenville RFC


Greenville Grffins Rugby Club