Bruce Away

Grimsby Gentlemen 7: Bruce County Barbarians 53

Venue:

Bruce County: Where windmills go for the summer. 

Tiverton District Sports Center :  Bruce has built two fields on the grounds of the Tiverton Arena and got a Trillium grant to put in irrigation.  They use the Arena for change rooms and beer ups. A nice facility.

Referee: Mark Glendon from London.

Weather: 24 degrees

Attendance:  only me again (water boy, assistant referee, chronicler, chauffeur  and booster)

Team: 1. Nick Lord, 2. Ross Matheson,  3. Jon Millington, 4. Bob Mavro, 5. Dirk Reichow 6. Brendan Sculland, 8.  Duncan Earl, 8. Drew Redmond, 9. Jeremy Inglis (just passing through), 10. Jamie  Farrell, e, 11. James Vinneau, 12. Vic Blaney, 13. Heri Lewssoh,  14. Austin Marck, 15.. Derrick Weber., 16. No one named Bruce (but they don't either) 

Game:  No pictures (remember the rain last week).  

The game does not start until 1:45 as their jerseys are not there (the irony is not lost on us).  Nothing much interesting happens from our point of view until at about twenty minutes after one of their tries we manage with the help of a penalty to get the ball into their end and as they try a clearing kick from their five it is blocked by one of their players and it falls in front of Drew who falls on it for his first score for Grimsby.  Webs converts to put us back in the game for a few minutes.  Ultimately they score 9 tries but their are times when we are playing well (not much offence) but spoiling their ball and forcing them to make errors.  They score right at the half  and at the end of the game but not until 22 minutes of the second half.  

Anyway it was an effort but we made the trip with 15 players.  We have only played in Bruce once before (August 21 2010)and then we only brought 9 players.  We played one other time in a fall league combined with St. Catharrines but did not send many more players. Since then Bruce had won the division, grown to two teams, played up in the NRU A, lost their second team a couple of years ago and dropped to the NRU B (with us) this year. 

Vic was awarded man of the match by Bruce which we won, and we had a beer can joust with Jamie and Vic (which we lost maybe -  the rules were not determined before the start).  

A week off for the Pan-am games and they another long trip to Chatham. 

Bruce at home

Grimsby Gentlemen 12: Bruce County Barbarians 21? (not sure how you get 21 when they scored 4 tries)

Venue:  Alway Field (nice and green and soft)

Weather:  Monsoons came early this year.

a little foggy and wet in warm up

Referee:  Ian Stewart

Attendance:  For the middle of a rainstorm and the distance there were a number of Bruce supporters, our were a little low (actually none except me)  but it always happens Pride Weekend especially the Dyke Parade Day.

Team: 1. Ross Matheson, 2. Brandan Sculland, 3. Jon Millington, 4. Martin Van Der Hurk, 5. Nick Lord, 6. Duncan Earl, 7.  Dirk Reichow  8. Vic Blaney, 9. Nick Lemieux, 10. Jake D'Achille, 11. James Vinneau, 12. Heri Lewssoh, 13.  Jamie Farrell, 14. A., Nother 15. Derrick Weber., 16. W. Hoever 16. No one named Bruce on our team.

Game:  

Only a few pictures as it was raining and wanted to protect the camera (I had to run touch and bring water also) but it didn't work and the camera got wet anyway. I also did not take notes and it has been awhile but I think the game went as follows.

 Bruce scored in the first few minutes as we only had 13 men on the field. Sometimes it is easier to get your team 222 km to a game on time than it is to get your team to the home field (but not really).  One of our players was forgotten to be picked up and another really did not want to play because of injury but eventually got on the field.  Bruce scored again near the end of the half but in between it was a pretty even game.

Half time score:  Grimsby Gentlemen 0: Bruce County Barbarians 10

In the second half, Grimsby started strong and with strong running by Vic (actually I don't know who but it is usually Vic) we scored early to get closer.  Then at about 60 min Jake made a great break from our own end and passed to Jamie who touched down in the middle of the posts and with the conversion we went ahead.  There was much consternation amongst the Bruce as they thought they were much fitter than us and then showed they were by scoring twice in the final ten minutes to end a good game.

Final Grimsby Gentlemen 12: Bruce County Barbarians   21? (they send the score in)

Well done Grimsby - the early try - try taken held up - we were missing some players otherwise it could have been an improbably victory.

Try held up first half. 

Well done Bruce for making it the whole way with supporters and they stayed at the beer up for a long time.

Next week we travel to Bruce.

Wilmot at home

Grimsby Gentlemen 33: Wilmot Warthogs 24  (Yesss!!!)

Venue:  Alway Field (a rare Friday night game) k.o at 7:25

Weather: Around 20 degrees with sun (shadows towards the end of the game: mosquitoes were also the big winners that evening:

Referee: Brian Quistberg: I got Brian his first teaching job.

Attendance:  A good number for a Friday - many might have missed the change in date.

Team: 1.   Nick Lord 2. Ross Matheson,  3: Jon Millington (40 min), 4. Martin Van Der Hurk, 5. Jeremy Young(40 min), 6. Brendan Sculland  7. Mark Woodgate),  8.Drew Redford, 9. Nick Lemieux, 10. Jake D'Achille, 11. James Vinneau (60 min), 12. Vic Blaney, 13. Cameron Ruys (60 min), 14. Jeremy Inglis (first game with Grimsby- refereed our last home game) , 15. Jamie  Farrell, 16, Dirk Reichow (40 min), 17.Dean Crozier (40 min), 18. Bob Mavro (20 min), 19. Heri Lewssoh 20.  Erick Alvardo, 21. Gareth Rees, 22. Al Charron, 23. Rod Snow

Jeremy Inglis (fist game with Grimsby)

Dean Crozier (first game in a long time with Grimsby) back from New Zealand

Game:  Our first win of the season was a classical tactical misdirection that led Wilmot to believe they could beat us any time anywhere and they probably can  (except on this Friday night). The Warthogs originally wanted the Friday night game (about three weeks ago) and we agreed but the week before decided they wanted to change it back to the Saturday.  This would have resulted in complications on our side with players and licenses and so it remained Friday night.  It takes longer to get to Grimsby than expected and so we started late and Wilmot did not have much of a warm up.  However this did not stop them from threatening at the opening kickoff (we always get scored upon in the first five minutes) because we did not handle the kick and they attacked on both sides of the field and only some desperate tackling stopped them. And then we went down the field bobbing and weaving and passing and offloading until Jake put the ball down for five and Cameron kicked after 7 min. An impressive start.

We again did not handle the kick off well but managed kept Wilmot out until about the 20 min mark, but ed the conversion was missed.  However we than took the kickoff down the field and played in their end resulting in Vic scoring. At 30  min we kind of lost concentration and on a quick tap Wilmot scored and converted.  Then just before half  Nick Lemieux spotted the ball down  in the endzone to increase our lead  (Cameron converted again).

Half Time Score: Grimsby Gentlemen 21: Wilmot Warthogs 12

It was an exciting game after the half with Wilmot trying to catch up and Grimsby trying to maintain the lead.  At at about 60 min, Cameron using his football skills, kicked the ball into the endzone and put it down for his first try with Grimsby (he also injured himself) .  Martin was successful with the kick. Wilmot came back with a converted try about three minutes later only to have Vic reply with his second try at the seventy minute mark.  One of Wilmot's quick young wingers made it closer with a final try but Grimsby held on for a bonus point win.

Wilmot asked for unopposed scrums as they had players who had not played in the front row before which took a little away from the game.

Scorers:                 Cameron Ruys            1T, 3C              11 points
                              Vic Blaney                  2T                    10 points
                              Jake D'Achille             1T                      5 points
                              Nick Lemieux             1T                      5 points
                              Martin Van Der Hurk  1C                     2 points

So our strategy paid off with a win.  This will not work in the next couple of games with Bruce because we play them at home first and it turns out they read our blog.

We raffled off our big bottle to help send Erick off to England for his Rugby League Camp with Huddersfield and managed to give him $350 and ten pounds Stirling.  The winner of the bottle was Freddie Sayers from Saudi Arabia where they do not drink alcohol, so this bottle which has been with the club for over twenty years may still remain with us.

Here's four of the boys who will be having a life-changing event soon.

Sorry, this is the picture they wanted me to show. 

A few pictures from Jennifer (she has about 400 from this game along on the facebook page)

Heri getting up to speed.

Dean at work

Cameron using his footballing skills to kick the ball loose.

Cameron using his rugby skill to dot the ball down. 

Wilmot Away

Grimsby Gentlemen 0: Wilmot Warthogs 41

Venue:  Waterloo-Oxford District Secondary School in the Town of Baden in the Township of Wilmot



Weather:  Nice day out in the farmer's fields (24 degrees).

Referee:  Paul Waling

Attendance: Some of the faithful:

Sam (from London) with a minor injury

Nick's dad

Team:  1. Ross Matheson, 2. Brendan Sculland, 3: Jon Millington (60 min), 4. Martin Van Der Hurk, 5. Nick Lord (60 min), 7. Bob Mavro (60 min),  8. Dean Crozier (back from New Zealand for a holiday), 9. Nick Lemieux, 10. Jamie Farrell, 11. James Vinneau (60 min), 12. Vic Blaney, 13. Heri Lewssoh (60 min - injury), 14. Duncan Earl, 15. Cameron Ruys, 16, Jeremy Young (40 min), 18. Dirk Reichow (40 min), 19. Erick Alvardo, 20. Gareth O'Brien, 21 Jake Connor, 22. Jared Simpson, 23. Jodie Broughton.

The Game:  
We knew going in to these back to back games with Wilmot that it would be win even one of them.  So the strategy was to play poorly enough in the away game to lull them into thinking they could beat us in the return game easily and perhaps we could get a much needed win at home.  The coaching staff does not want to take all the credit for this brilliant gambit , so well used last by the French in the 2011 World Cup (they did not actually win the cup but lost to New Zealand in the final 7 to 5) , it really was the players who bought into the plan and wiithout their hard work at looking awful we might not prevail.  

I got to the game late as I was with the flag tournament at our club (they were probably having more fun) and the score was 17 - 0 at the half (which was a little too close for comfort) but the our players dug deep and took a lot a penalties and a yellow to get the final score to 41 to 0. Now it only remained to wait a week and see if the rest of the master plan would be delivered (God willing).  

I did not mention that Ross  got our first yellow card of the year against Norfolk for some evil deed.  The odds that Ross (coach, captain, lineout whisperer)  would get the first were a fairly long  ten to one.  But the second came in this game by Nick Lemieux and you could  have won fifty bucks if he had gotten the first card.   

We went back to their beer up (eventually - it was in an Irish pub called Kennedy's in a town even smaller than Baden called St. Agatha)  knowing we had the advantage but we did not want them to realize that.  We even stayed later at their event than they did.  Vic was chosen man of the match but had left so Jamie Farrell - who had stepped into the 10 position because we had injuries and played very well - was their second choice.  Although a university man, I think Jamie goes to school to learn and not to chug beer and did not do well against a seasoned prop.  

Jamie about to attack

Milli attacking

Heri was attacked (looks sore)

Duncan pretending to go off his healthy diet to lull Wilmot

One of our flag teams. 

Stratford at home

Grimsby Gentlemen 12: Stratford Blackswans 24  (I am back to reporting scores)

"The only game of rugby that you really lose is the one you didn't play"

Venue: Alway field

our new crest on the side of Alway Hall

Weather:  a cooler 14 degrees with a rare northwest wind

Referee:  Jeremy Inglis (a Grimsby local who would like to practice and get a few games with us this year)

Sponsors:

         Profast:  

                Access Canada Equipment:

                 Aqua Flow Plumbing

                Physiotherapy @ Cruise Chiropractic

                Vital Link Wellness Center: 

                Steamwhistle Brewery (donated keg)

Attendance: definitely more than last week but the person responsible for actually counting is on strike(again).

Brendan's dad (Aqua Flow Plumbing), Brendan's brother, Brad (former Gentlemen), and Henri's brother , Ben (future Gentlemen hopefully)

Cameron's brother(Adam)  and parents(Christine and Ron).  The only one who is Irish in the family is Christine (the rest are Canadian ) who tends  to  up a lot (as I do when I am around them.)  

Team: 1. Nick Lord (60 min - injury), Ross Matheson, 3. Jon Millington (60 min), 4. Martin Van Den Hurk, 5 and 8. Vic Blaney, 6. and 2. Brendan Sculland, 7 and 14. Duncan Earl, 8. Drew Redford (40 min), 9. Nick Lemieux, 10. Derrick Weber, 11. Austin Marck, 12. Heri Lwessoh (first game with Grimsby), 13. Cameron Ruys, 14 (22). James Vinneau (40 min), 15. Jamie Farrell, 16. Dirk Reichow (40 min), 17. Jeremy Young (40 min), 18. Bob Mavro (40min), 19. Brian O'Driscoll,, 20 Ronan O'Gara, 21. Jonathan Sexton, 22 Paul O'Connell.

First game by Heri Lwessoh for Grimsby Gentlemen

Game:  We had our traditional start to the game by letting Stratford score in the opening 5 minutes. But the rest of the half was quite a bit of back and forth.  We had the advantage at the scrum (won all our head and turned their scrum around most times to get the feed back) and did well at lineouts.  Stratford did very well at the rucks and kicked often to put us on the back foot.  Jaamie (first game this year) had some great runs as fullback (he was hard to bring down all game).  Near the end of the half a lot of pressure on our line led to a penalty try to put the visitors up 12 points.

Half time:  Grimsby Gentlemen 0: Stratford Blackswans 12

After a good but uninspired first half, Grimsby came storming back to put pressure on Stratford for long periods in the second. At about 5 min of the second, we got the ball to Vic who charged forward to put us on the board for our first try in 2 games. Then a couple of minutes later a #8 pick up by Vic from a scrum about 10 meters out led to an off load to Nick Lemieux who scored near the posts and with conversion the game was tied and we had  momentum. .  We continued to attack and pressure them and were pressing again when an errant pass was picked off and run almost the entire length of the field (Jamie gave chase and made him run the whole way- if the field was 10 meters longer he would have been caught). At about 24 minutes Stratford scored again and although we had a try held up somewhere in there,  we could not get closer.

Final Score Grimsby Gentlemen 12: Stratford Blackswans 24

Much better game than last week with a stronger scrum (actually theirs was not as good as the Harvesters) but we played much better all around.  We need to build on that. Ross mentioned the contribution of the new young players (Drew, Heri, Duncan, Austin and Jeremy)  to our improvement in this game.

Jamie in flight (on borrowed shoes)

Vic on his way to scoring the first try.

Jon on a bit of a break

Jon down

Jon getting up (always the hard part)

Jon running support

Jon gets the ball back

Duncan lifted by Nick and Drew

One of the wheeled scrums we were able to do all day

It was fun showing Stratford around the clubhouse (still under construction) and since we have not been up there in a couple of years we have not seen their new field and club association (Army -Navy Club).

Dean Crozier (Kiwi - the Original) who played with us in 2012 and 2013 is over from New Zealand for the next month and hopes to get in a few games.  Welcome back Dean

This is the new playground that was put up this week after the town took the old one away.

up close it looks a little forlorn and small.

Frankly I think, this is going to give the little ones nightmares - however it does seem to give some of our members (Vic)   erotic dreams. 

Next game Saturday in Wilmot with Wilmot returning the following Friday night. 

Norfolk away

The Grimsby Gentlemen would like to announce that because there is much to much emphasis on winning and scoring of tries and that we would like to encourage out elder players to come out and play without worrying about actual outcomes of games and can enjoy the playing without pressure that, for the near future, we are not longer reporting scores.  Screw you all.

Would all Grimsby players please pick up their participation ribbons at the next practice.

Venue:  Waterford District High School in Waterford which is somewhere in southern Ontario. The Wolves are the name of the High School Team - we played the Harvesters.

Referee:  I am not sure (sorry ref), it definitely was not Ian Stewart.(for the first time in three games)



Weather:  It was a warm 28 degrees which had a feel like of 34 degrees when we played (our plan B was an expected a rain storm to come through and cancel the game). Cameron says they have heard of weather this warm in Northern Ireland and he was in it once or twice but he never played rugby in it before. Twenty-four hours later it was 8 degrees.

Attendance: It turns out the supporters bus was delayed and did not arrive until after the game and the players decidedly missed their encouragement. (Jake drove up on his own and ran touch)  Also seen on the sideline were:

Brian Shearer (doing some scouting)

Sam McGee's mom and dad from London

Martin's dad (likes soccer better)

Team:  1. Ross Matheson 80 min), 2. Brendan Sculland (80min), 3. Jon Millington (80 min), 4 . Bob Mavro (80 min), 5. Martin Van Den Hurk (80 min), 6. Drew Redford (80 min), 7. Duncan Earl (80 min), 8.  Erick Alvardo, (80 min) 9. Nick Lemieux (80 m), 10. Derrick Weber (80 min) , 11(actually 22). James Vinneau (80 min), 12. Vic Blaney (80 min), 13. Sam McGee (80 min) , 14.  Austin March (80 min)(thanks to Austin for calling in sick - we needed him), 15. Cameron Ruys (80 min). 

These are players who played last week but I did not get a picture to introduce  them.  This was their second game with Grimsby (they came back).

Cameron (from Northern Ireland)

We got 13 hits from Ireland this past week so Cameron must be as much a celebrity over there as he tells us he was.

Sam (from London ( Canada))

Game:  Many of the Harvesters were big players (how they got those oxen to run on their hind feet I will never understand) and basically took care of the ball.  Our backs were starved  all day and could do little with the ball they got it as we were going backwatd in the scrums, rucks and mauls.  Cameron managed to impress them with some long kicks to touch but otherwise it was a long, hard afternoon.  Norfolk scored three tries in the first half and then opened up in the second.  There were a few sore bodies on the drive home.

Afterwards at the beer up, Erick Alvardo , who needs practice drinking beer, was picked man of the match by Norfolk. This was his second man of the match honour in a row.  A fantastic opportunity has come Erick's way as he has been selected to go to England to train with the Huddersfield Giants' rugby league team for three weeks and then he is off to B.C. to practice with the Canadian u 20 team, the Young Wolverines, and then play an international against the English u 20 team. Unfortunately he will not be able to play with us until he comes back.  We will miss you Erick and the best of luck from all the Gentlemen.              

Erick (u20 Canadian  Wolverine)

Norfolk's  president pointed out that some dozen years ago Martin brought the Gentlemen down to play the Harvesters in their first game ever.

On the home front, Brendan Sculland and Nick Lemieux spent 3.5 hours last Tuesday mixing 48 bags of cement in wheelbarrows to fill in the shower pans. Lots of work will be done on the club in the next couple of weeks.

Congratulations to the Beamsville girls who went to OFSSA in Brampton as #4 seed.  This is the seventh year in a row Beamsville has gone to OFSSA and the tenth year in a row to win their zone.  Congratulation to Frank Schilte, Chris Brown and Stephanie Pavlovich.

Blessed Trinity a first year team in Grimsby actually qualified for OFSSA boys but because you must be 16 to play at OFSSA they did not have enough players over that age and had to decline.  Great start to the program Jim and Chris and well done.

Misfits 2015

The Misfits (Philadelphia) at home

Grimsby Gentlemen 2 tries: Misfits 5 or 6 (forgot to count)

Venue:  Friday evening at Alway Field, k.o. at 6:50

Referee:  Again Ian Stewart (our personal referee)

Weather: very nice spring evening a bit coolish with a gusty breeze from the south.

Sponsors:  Brand new shirts thanks to Adan and to all the sponsors who paid for them.(We have all kinds of logos like a professional bike team.)

fist game with new shirts (Adam is missing)

                Profast:  

                Access Canada Equipment:

                 Aqua Flow Plumbing

                Physiotherapy @ Cruise Chiropractic

                Vital Link Wellness Center: 

                Steamwhistle Brewery (donated kegs)

Special thanks to our sponsor Brendan Nytschyk of J.J. Cores who collected the tab for the Misfits all evening.

Attendance:  In spite of the international aspect of the game we do not think we hit our goal of 500 fans but then no one actually counted.

Paul Rohner (original), Jim Van Roon (original player), Tony Evans (original coach), Wayne Scobie (original player)

J. Greig Inglis (former coach) and Alex Millar (former player)

Thanks to all the old boys who came out to see us including those above and also seen around were Bill Stabler and Chris Atkinson (that I can remember).  They all agreed that they were glad they played before rugby got more difficult with lifting, more continuous play, drinking maple syrup and mustard and burning assholes.

Team:  1. Ross Matheson, 2. Brendan Sculland (50 min), 3. Jon Millington (65 min), 4 also 3. Nick Lord (50 min), 5. Jeremy Young, 6 also 8, Erick Alvardo, 7. Drew Redford (40 min), 8 also 5. Mark Woodgate,
9. Nick Lemieux, 10. Derrick Weber, 11(actually 22). James Vinneau (40 min), 12 and 7. Vic Blaney, 13 and 15. Cameron Ruys (first game with Grimsby - he is the one with the Irish accent)(65 min), 14. Duncan Earl, 15. Austin March (65 min), 16 Brendan Nytschyk (back again after a year off) (30 min), 17. Bob Mavro (65 min), 18. Stefan Johnson (first game with Grimsby)(40 min) , 19. T. J. Cole (50 min), 20. Martin Van Der Hurk (40 min), 21(actually 11). Sam McGee  22. Tony Evans
               
The Misfits: are a touring side composed of several teams from the Philadelphia area.  They arrived at the club around 4:15 and started to practice from 4:30 to 6:00 before the game (I remember when we never ran on tour).  They were youngish and much fitter than the Philadelphia Irish we played two years ago. They did have their problems at the border though because the Canadian border guards said they were too drunk and the bus too messy to cross at 1 a.m Friday morning.  They had to repair to a restaurant, clean the bus, drink coffee for an hour or so to try to recross.  Even then they were interviewed and one of them was not allowed to cross because of two DWIs. (One might think they might like to have him in the country as a tourist especially when he is on a bus and not driving)   This whole process probably sobered them up enough to get enough sleep and be ready for us. (They did not look as chirpy in Burlington the next day.)

The Game:

The Misfits were ready and aggressive and caught us off balance from the start.  They kicked a short kick off and recovered ball back and after a few cycles scored near the posts (2 min).  On our kick off they brought it back hard,  finding gaps in our defence and picking up yardage. They chip kicked in our end and  a  good cover run by Duncan was spoiled by a missed grounding  in-goal and led to the second score.  Philadelphia continued to run at us and by 20 min had their third try of the night.  However after that we seemed to get back in the game with some hard tackling and hitting and they no longer had their own way. Just before half time some quick plays in their end (after penalties) led to Vic putting the ball down for Grimsby.  The conversion was missed.

 The bruising  hitting by both teams continued into the second half and Philly scored again. However from a scrum in their 22, a nice dummy switch left Derrick on a break and great offload to Nick Lemieux on a good support run led to a try between the posts.  Conversion by Cameron (his first points for Grimsby).  I did not keep good notes but The Misfits continued on to score at least a couple more tries but most spectators said we did very well against a large physical team that could move the ball well.

I happened to go to see them play Burlington III in Burlington (and I retrieved our game ball).  It was a lot like our game except with the wide field the Misfits had more space.  They also scored on the opening kickoff and eventually won 61 to 7.

Aftermath: 

Vic did a great job organizing, cutting and cooking for the social.  He also organized several games which including downing syrup and mustard.  In my day we only drank and sang.  As mentioned Brandon sponsored their team for beer and food and they were good guests and did not stay a long time (Alex suggested they go to the Canadian strippers - so they did) .Thanks to Jon and Jeremy for working behind the bar.

They chose Erick Alvardo as man of the match for his spirit in taking on the big boys.

Mark, lifted by Jon and Ross, had another great day in the lineout. 

A little bit of scrum violence in a bucolic farmland setting. 

This is a quote from Dan Carter, New Zealand's great fly half.  The whole article which speaks to his desire to play for the All Blacks and about his career can be read in this article.

http://www.theplayerstribune.com/dan-carter-new-zealand-all-blacks-rugby/

:

For those interested:

In general play, players are considered off side if they are in front of a team-mate who is carrying the ball or in front of a player who last played the ball. Those players are temporarily out of the game and are liable to sanction if they move forward towards the ball and this includes the in-goal. Law 11.1 states that a player can be offside in the in-goal.  I asked several referees about this interpretation and they agreed.