Crusaders away: Week Two

Grimsby Gentlemen 0: Oakville Crusaders IV 29

Venue: Crusader Park in Oakville their second pitch which was a lot muddy and very smelly

Referee: It definitely was not Steve Scott as advertised but Rose Labresche ***

Weather: not raining, cloudy about 18 degrees (the sun was shining after the game to watch the Crusader Firsts play.

Attendance: Andy had an extended group of encouragers and Mary was there (she must have found it chilly but the supporter's bus must have broken down.

Team: (18 players!) Nick Howe (20 min), Dylan Kinch, Nathan Rowbottom, Bob Mavro, Dean Gibson, Brendan Sculland (first game) Dan Wolfrack, Kyle Wilson, Nick Lemieux, Andy Breuls, Vic Blaney, Alex Millar (60 min), Jamie Scully, Trevor Trotman (60 min) , Derrick Weber,Jon Millington (60 min), Wally Cone (40 min), Martin Van Den Hurk (40 min)

President's Report: Crusaders IV were a bit of a surprise in that they are made up of some very good players who are still interested in playing but not in practicing as regularly with the club as they would need to. In fact this team is stronger (they claim) than their third team which plays in the TRU. So they had some talent with a lot of experience and a lot of players as the thirds did not play. We let them replace freely but are keeping track when we need to do the same. We are certainly not bitter even though this is the second loss and have not scored any points yet and we had to play a team with ugly uniforms.

Coaches Report: The Crusaders came out fairly confident and were much more ready for the game than we were. They moved the ball down the field until Tyler Legatt (who played a couple of game for us last year) let loose a drop goal after 3 min. We took the ball down the field and made an attempt for a kick at goal but missed. The Crusaders came back down the field and we spent much of the second half in our end. Tyler scored at about 10 min and again at 25 min. One more try was scored in the first half.

Half time score Grimsby Gentlemen 0: Crusaders IV 24

The second half was a little better for Grimsby and we were able to play part of the game in their end and came close to scoring a couple of times. Crusaders finished their scoring with one more try in the second half at about 65 min. Overall the Cru had players who moved the ball more quickly and got into position faster. We had trouble getting a continuous offence going and our defense was slow getting into position. They found gaps and took them with speed. We had some good runs and tried several plays but could not keep it going. Depending on how well they travel we could have difficulty with them when they come to our place unless we get more organized and fitter. Maybe we can blame the loss on their camouflage suits.

Close


Closer - but no cigar
The captains choice for man of the match was Trevor Trotman

Their choice was Andy Breuls for his tackles but they settled for Dean Gibson

We picked Tyler Legatt.

Next week (June 4) is our first home game this season and it is a derby game against St. Catharines and we are without our tree.

Note: Frank Shilte and Chris Brown have taken the Beamsville girls to their third OFSAA in three years and the Beamsville boys are going on Wednesday to Belleville to their first. Their coaches are Darren Moore and Dave Franklin have one of our signed up players on the team, Martin Colyn and hopefully a few more.

Warning : Do not get on a bus with the following man no matter how nice he is to you. Weird things will happen !!!!

Stratford Away: Week One

Grimsby Gentlemen 0: Stratford Black Swans 15

Venue: Stratford Nortwestern High School

(I think I saw Justin Bieber coming out of the bar)

Referee: Eric Ciezar ***1/2

Weather: About 18 degrees with a soft ground, overcast

Attendance: the Breules family (Melanie, Mason and Dylan) and Elizabeth.

The regular fan bus was cancelled.

Team:

F.R.: Wally Cone, Alex Millar, Dean Gibson, Jamie Scully, Andy Breuls, Nick Howe, Nick Lemieux

B.R.: Jon Millington, Bob Mavro, Trevor Trotman, Dylan Kinch, Vic Blaney, Kyle Wilson, Jeremy Young, Derrick Weber, Daniel Wolfrath, Stu English

Nathan Rowbottom came about twenty minutes later.

President's Report:

I got a nice chauffeured drive in a brand new Cadillac all the way up (thank you Wally). I thought the game could be cancelled because it was raining so hard on the way up but Stratford seemed to miss the afternoon rain.

We had three players play their first game as a Gentlemen. Wally "You don't quit playing because you get old but you get old because you quit playing" Cone is pictured below. Well done Wally.

Trevor Trotman who needs black socks

and Dan Wolfrath (We have a second Wolf on the club), here being lifted.

Also we welcomed back Andy Breuls who took a year off, Stu English who took two years off and Nick Howe who took three years off. I am sure the coach and captain were ecstatic when they realized on Thursday that they could have as many as twenty players for the game. A surprise change in the schedule a late as last Monday resulted in this game against Stratford and made the whole league more competitive with the addition of Stratford, St Catharines and Norfolk. After doing a lot of travel in the last couple of years, this is the farthest we travel this year. I recommend that the coach should run the team a few more laps to get rid of the weight we got from the food provided by the Swans. We at least won the man of the match drink off, the boat race anchored ably by Nathan, and the sing song.

Coaches Report:

The Swans came out very strong and kept us in our end for a considerable period, scoring after about 5 minutes and again after 20 minutes. We eventually got into their end and had some chances to score but could not finishing.

Half time score: Grimsby 0: Stratford 10

The second half was actually fairly even but they scored again at about 60 minutes. Near the end we had several lineouts inside their 10, but could not punch anything across. A lot of our inabliltiy to score and to stop them was rustiness from many players and inexperience from the new players who played better than could be expected. The scrums were good, the lineouts need work. It looked like we were just bashing against the other team without a plan. We need to activate our patterns and then make them happen. We did well for the first game of the season and so many new players. Stratford out agressioned (new word) us, especially in the first half. However, we did deny them a bonus point.

Coaches Man of the Match: Jeremy Young for getting around the field and putting pressure on the other team.

The other team's pick: Vic Blaney his play in the centers had may Swans avoiding that area. Vic won the drink off (but it was against an underage kid who then threw up in the urinals).

There is no under the willow this year because there is no willow. But we may have a third "Wolf" at the clubhouse.

New Year's Day 2011

The annual New Year's Day Match was played this year on January 1, 2011. A thawed pitch led to a lot of soakers.



Frankie pointed out that to his recollection he has never lost a New Year's game and he was on the winning side again.

Here's Frankie looking a lot like Jonah Lomu in that he has number 11 on the back of his All Blacks jersey.

This is Webs chasing again as Nick takes off.

Derrick and Milli tied for the Bob Mavro food preparation award for their renditions of chili.

A good time was had by all.