Saturday October 27, 2007 vs. Queen City
AKRON, OH - The men of Akron Rugby took the pitch on Saturday in the 1st round of the Midwest Playoffs. Expectations were high as Akron looks to return to the Midwest Final 4. Standing in their way was Queen City RFC, the #2 seed from the South Division. Akron would also break in their new home sideline as they would seek to channel the energy coming from the massive block of granite that is dedicated to those who helped make their home pitch a reality. The weather was seasonably chilly with overcast skies and light rain on and off throughout the match.
Akron Lineup
1: Doc 2: Cheese (Cornchuck) 3: Keeney 4: Abe (Ankles) 5: Cody (Craig) 6: Dizzle (Kevin) 7: Bos (Capt.) (Ted) 8: Chili 9: Muldoon 10: Andrew (Welshie) 11: Frenchie 12: Robert 13: Hansel 14: Carl 15: Grant
Akron would open the match by moving the ball quickly down into Queen City territory. Not even three minutes into the match, Akron went up 3-0 on a penalty slotted by Grant. Queen City would take advantage of the wind and a misplayed restart to get possession deep in Akron territory. Queen City would maul over the line and convert the score to take a 7-3 lead. Akron would answer back almost immediately and they would move within Queen City's half when Hansel would get the ball outside, shed his man and outrun the rest of the Queen City backs to the corner. Grant would add a very tough conversion to put Akron up 10-7. The seesaw tempo of the first ten minutes of play would turn into a very one sided affair as Akron would put pressure on Queen City the rest of the afternoon and Queen City would get very little ball to work with. Andrew would pressure the Queen City backs by pinning them back with kicks and letting Akron chase the kicks and pressure Queen City into mistakes. Andrew would get in on the action himself dotting down two unconverted tries before halftime. Akron went into the break up 20-7 and looking to rout Queen City. Using the club's strong point of having depth, fresh legs hit the pitch to start the second half as Kevin, Ted, and Ankles would get in on the action. Craig and Cornchuck would hit the pitch later in the half to round out the replacements. The second half started sloppily for Akron and Queen City had a golden opportunity to get back into the match when Keeney was sin-binned. Unfortunately for Queen City, Akron used the poor start to the half to motivate them into a dominant second half where Queen City would see little ball inside of Akron's half and mount few scoring threats. Down a man, Cody would push over to put Akron up 27-7. Akron would take the re-start and move within the Queen City 22 when Grant put in an awesome effort by pop kicking over the Queen City defense, catching the kick on the fly and putting a perfect pass out to Frenchie for an easy score to get the crowd and team pumped up. Grant would follow up shortly after with a try of his own after Cheese battered his way close to the line and the backs got quick ball to work with. Not done for the day, Welshie would add another try underneath the posts which he converted to put the score at 46-7 in favor of Akron. Akron put in a convincing win with a strong defensive effort, an excellent game plan, great tactical kicking, and opportunistic play on offense.
Akron Scoring
Tries: Hansel, Andrew (2), Cody, Frenchie, Grant, Welshie
Conversions: Grant 4 for 5, Andrew 0 for 1, Welshie 1 for 1
Penalties: Grant 1 for 1, Welshie 0 for 1
Queen City Scoring
1 try, 1 conversion
The Killer B's were able to get in on the action as well as the college side from John Carroll made the trip to Akron. The Killer B's would look to continue their excellent play this Fall. The Killer B's put in another strong effort in the 13 a side match and come out on top 15-0. The crowd particularily enjoyed the kicking show put on by Cody.
Akron Scoring
Tries: Ted, Robert, Joe N.
Now Akron looks to what will be their final match of the 2007 season. All of the hard work everyone has put in was to get to this very point. A win and Akron moves on to the Midwest Final 4 in the Spring. As of press time, Akron's opponent and the location has yet to be determined. Regardless of who it is or where it is played, Akron will need another strong and intense week of practice to prepare for their game of the year.
Go Akron Rugby!