Doylestown Rugby Football Club News – October 7, 2024
Men’s Team
On Saturday, October 5, 2024, the Doylestown Rugby Club Men’s Team traveled to Friendship Field to play Phoenixville. Going into this match, the Dragons knew they would be light on the number of players. However, this was a league match and the men knew what was on the line.
This match was a gritty battle from start to finish. It was back and forth for the first 25 minutes.
Phoenixville was unsuccessful in an early penalty kick attempt. However, when Doylestown got a yellow card, Phoenixville was able to capitalize and put 5 points on the board. The same situation occurred when another player was carded off. Time was about to expire in the first half when veteran prop, Jack Catterall, slid through the defense and touched the ball down right under the uprights. After Fionn O’Toole’s successful conversion kick, the first half ended with the Dragons down, 7-10.
At halftime, the Dragons hydrated and listened to the coaches. It was hot and the field was dry, but that was no excuse. The coaching staff connected with the men, encouraging them to keep fighting, while adding some instructional suggestions to improve both offensive and defensive performances.
The second half of the match was action packed. The Dragons, adapting to still playing a man down due to a red card, made some interesting adjustments in the lineup. However, Phoenixville came to battle. They scored a converted try about 44 minutes into the match. On the flip side, the Dragons played smart. Around the 53-minute mark, O’Toole had already successfully converted two penalty goals. At this point, the Dragons were still down 13-17. Continuing to bank on penalty kicks was not going to cut it. They needed trys. Who better than wing, Shawn Williams to run one in for the Dragons? After O’Toole’s conversion, the Dragons finally took the lead, 20-17. They needed to keep up the pace.
There were still 8 minutes left in the match and Phoenixville was not going to roll over. They touched down a try with 5 minutes left on the board. Now, the Dragons trailed 20-22. BUT WAIT! O’Toole kicked the ball to reset and Williams sprinted down the field, jumped to catch the ball, dodged two or three tackles, and scored in the corner. The crowd went wild. Knowing there was not much time left and the pressure was off, O’Toole took his time with the conversion kick. Setting the ball inches from the touch line, he did his best to line up the ball and set in his position. As he made contact, everyone knew that he had made the kick.
After a reset, a couple of phases and a knock on, Doylestown won their scrum and O’Toole kicked the ball out. Final score: Doylestown 27 Phoenixville 22. The men did it. They were able to pull out a victory over a solid Phoenixville squad, with limited numbers, playing with only 13 men for most of the match, and with players out of position. The Dragons move to 2-1 in league play. The Man of the Match was Fionn O’Toole and the Hard Hat of the Match was Shawn Williams.
This week, the Dragons will practice on Tuesday and Thursday at 7:00 p.m. at the home pitch (Maennerchor Field in Doylestown) to focus on the next match, which will be played away on Saturday, October 12, 2024, against Media. Kick-off is set for 1:00 p.m.
Women’s Team
The women traveled to Harrisburg on Saturday, October 5th with light numbers. This was the second faceoff between these teams this season. Doylestown battled hard but played most of the game with 12-14 players. They fell to Harrisburg, 5-60. The overall player of the match was Cam Cam and the whole team was honored with Defensive Player of the Match.
Next week Monmouth travels down to Doylestown for their fourth league match of the season. Kickoff is slated for 11 AM.
For more information about Doylestown Rugby Football Club, go to www.doylestownrugby.com
