Match Report

Ramblers vs. Mizzou
March 7th, 2009

The St Louis Ramblers travelled to Columbia for a A and B-side game against Mizzou. Unfortunately, due to many varied reasons the Ramblers travelled without several starters and only had a 22 man squad for both games.  The good news was that this give several great opportunities to several players, including some of our rookies.  The A-side games was to be two halves of 35 minutes, followed by a B-side games of 2 x 20 minute halves.

The A-side game started rather disorganized for the Ramblers, and they struggled with over committing at the breakdown, especially considering the well drilled Mizzou team, who rarely over committed resulting in plenty of players in the open field. The Ramblers did pressure early on and this resulted in a penalty in front of the posts that was converted by Leo Polson.  Despite the early pressure Mizzou used their advantage of the additional numbers in the open field to pressure our back line. This resulted in some miscommunication and wayward passing in our 22 that saw the ball thrown into the try zone and Mizzo were awarded a controversial try as the ball seemed to have been grounded by Doug Uthoff.  Following the score the Ramblers tried to get some more cohesion and saw the forwards beginning to work in their pods and restraining from overcommiting.  With more players to compete in the open field, the Ramblers were able to get a penalty on the 20 minute mark, which was converted by Leo polson to make the score 6-7 to Mizzou. Some strong rucking in the midfield saw the ball won by the Ramblers and was quickly utilized by the backs and resulted in Cameron Glimore making an excellent break, but was hauled down 5 meters short.  Outside Center Tony Moore was in support and quickly picked up and broke through 2 defenders for a try, that was converted. The Ramblers went into the half leading 13-7.

Following some changes at the half and the introduction of old head Doug Aten into the back row (?!?) the Ramblers came out strong and saw inside center Adam Schmitt scoring near the posts to set up an easy conversion within 3 minutes of the restart.. Ramblers 20 Mizzou 7. 
2nd Half. Five minutes later our dynamic centers again combined, this time to see Tony Moore score an unconverted try.  Both tries were the result of some excellent forwards work and solid set pieces.  The Ramblers continued their strong pressure and moved back into the Mizzou 22, however a wayward pass to our wing saw an interception from Mizzou that was run all the way back for an unconverted try.  Ramblers 25 Mizzou 12. On the 25-minute mark the Ramblers had a lineout on the Mizzou 10 meter line. A shortened line out saw prop Chris Hrdina power up the field and plough through several defenders before setting up a maul that was quickly recycled to the back line.  Some excellent defense kept the backs at bay and gave prop Hrdina a chance to get across field for a hit up.  Unfortunately despite some strong running, Mizzou mob tackled Hrdina just short, but some quick thinking by prop Nicholas "Milky" Iffrig saw him score his first try in the green and white!.

The game finished Ramblers 30 Mizzou 12 and saw some excellent forwards work, some wonderful backs running and particularly fullback Kamron Ahmad, who was awarded Man of the Match. Mizzou had some excellent players and their discipline at the break down was very impressive and a few of the Rambler senior players were glad to come off with their knees intact.

Ramblers team:
C. Hrdina, D. Reckamp, N. Iffrig, C. Wiggins, P. Keeven, R. Lane(D. Aten), E. Livingston, C. Heath (c), J. Rothermich, Leo Polson, C. Gilmore, A. Schmitt, T. Moore, D. Uthoff, K. Ahmad.

After a 5 minute break the Ramblers were back on to the field to face the Mizzou B-side. An excellent opportunity to help develop the Mizzou and Rambler rookies.  The Ramblers forwards had some fun times running around the park and occasionally let the backs play.  They were able to easily control all their set pieces, as well as stealing some of the Mizzou ball.  All in all the B-side was a great 15 man effort with some wonderful runs, great support and excellent off loading in the tackle. Man of the Match was awarded to Jeff O’Donnel for some superb support play and even stronger runs.

1st Half
Ramblers Tries
Ryan Lane, converted by Doug Aten.
Chris Wiggins, not converted.
Ramblers B 12 Mizzou B 0

2nd Half
Ramblers tries
Adam Schmitt converted by Doug Aten.
Jeff O'Donnel, not converted
Ramblers B 24 Mizzou B 0. Final Score

Ramblers B Side:
Lance Ennis, Jeff O'Donnel, Neil ?, Jeff Bosaw, Patrick Keeven, Colin Heath (c), Chris Wiggins, Eric Livingston, Joe Rothermich, Doug Aten, Matt Conley, R. Lane/A. Schmidt, D. Uthoff, C. Gilmore/J. Mello, L. Polson.