Doylestown Rugby Football Club News – September 21, 2025
Men’s Team
On Saturday, September 20, 2025, the Doylestown Rugby Men’s Team played first league match of the fall, traveling to Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania to play a very strong Old Gaelic team. Doylestown, having received a forfeit from South Jersey the week before, was eager to get on the field to begin their EPRU league season.
The Dragons have been training hard on both offense and defense, being a much more fit and focused team. The game was a battle in the opening minutes, with neither team able to capitalize on opportunities deep in opposing territory. Continuity and a relentless attack set up Doylestown with an attacking scrum, and used some crafty backline play to spring Joseph Stella for a 40 meter try to go up 5-0. A few minutes later, Old Gaelic answered with a try of their own and the score was tied 5-5 after 25 minutes.
Taking the ensuing kickoff, Doylestown again maintained attacking pressure through continuity, and was rewarded with a penalty in front of the post. Brian Stella put through an easy penalty goal to give the Dragons the lead 8-5. The final 2 minutes of the first half saw Old Gaelic benefit from multiple questionable penalties, which they capitalized on to close the half with the lead 12-8.
Knowing that they were in a battle and playing extremely disciplined, physical ball, the Dragons went in to the second half ready to keep it rolling and continue to put the pressure on Old Gaelic.
Doylestown gave up a try to go down 17-8, and their response was to use some aggressive tactics, which saw Brian Stella connect with Matthew Frederick for a beautiful try from 40 meters out. Stella nailed the conversion, and Doylestown was down 17-15. They stayed disciplined and gave Old Gaelic everything they could handle through 60 minutes of play, Old Gaelic’s lead remained slim, and Doylestown was down 24-15.
Unfortunately, Old Gaelic turned the effort and aggressive running way up, using the depth of their bench to rattle off try after try to close the game with a final score of 50-15. While the final score was a bit lopsided, the effort and skill that Doylestown showed through 60 minutes indicates a lot of promise and potential for this Doylestown team to make some noise in the league standings this year.
The Man of the Match was awarded to Brian Stella for his tactical command of the offense and playmaking ability, and the Hard Hat was awarded to Kevin Reilly, whose high work rate all over the field in tackling and pushing the pace kept Gaelic on their heels. Other top performances from Doylestown were Caden Sailer, who was a force at the breakdown, Christopher Muniz for generating line breaks and a high work rate, and Joseph Stella for being a threat to score each time he had the ball.
Doylestown will travel to Lancaster on Saturday September 27, 2025 in Week 3 of EPRU competition to take on the Roses at 1:00 p.m.
Match Film (DRFC Camera): https://youtu.be/xHCJRW294M4
High School Boys’ Team and U16 Boys’ Team
The Doylestown Rugby Academy High School Boys’ Team and U16 Boys’ Team are both currently participating in RugbyPA’s Fall 7s season. The High School Boys’ Team has competed in the first two tournaments and has a combined record of 6 wins and 3 losses. The U16 Boys’ Team competed at the first tournament held this past Sunday at LaSalle College High School and won all 3 of their matches. The High School Boys’ Team heads to the third tournament of the Fall season on Sunday, September 28, 2025, at Kutztown University. The High School Boys’ Team and U16 Boys’ Team practice together every Thursday evening 5:30-7:00 p.m. at the Maennerchor Field in Doylestown. New players are always welcome.
For more information about Doylestown Rugby Football Club, go to www.doylestownrugby.com