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Coaches corner:
First I woudld like to say, 'Congrats to the Irish.' Yes, the entire 22 men.
It was a true team win, with all members deserving the win.
I believe you are beginning to see what you are capable of accomplishing.
I would like to note, I was very impressed with the way you handled winning the
Open Division. It shows true professionalism to 'Act like you been there before'.
If you are a young guy watching our showmanship or watching NOVA I's antics, I'm sure
we would win the recruitment battle.
I was also proud of the escalation of our team defense. We allowed 2 tries in 5 games,
and had 3 shut-outs overall. Okay, enough with the ata-boys.
We need to trust our neighbor to make the tackle and not get drawn into fray.
We still need to play 'keep away' and resist contact on offense.
No worries- we will work on all of this Thursday night.
Lastly, great numbers continue at training; we are averaging 20+.
Cheers,
Duma
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Irish Green Win Bowl
Signal Point Park- June 16, 2007
Irish v Severn River
Poor defense defined Irish Green's opening match against Severn River. Almost immediately Severn swung the ball to their swift winger who found space around the end and started the scoring streak that would put Severn up 3 tries before the end of the half. The Irish tried to rally in the second half with a couple of break-aways by Sev Schneibe dumping to JB. However, the Irish were unable to close and Severn again managed to break the Irish defense and score their 4th try. The Irish put fresh legs into the pack with Anthony Rodgers who quickly faked a pass wide to Jon “Head” Hansen before taking the run himself to score in the last minute, saving Green the embarrassment of a shut out.
Final 26-7 Severn.
Irish Green v NOVA II
The second game saw more of the same from Irish Green. Smothering defense and surgical offense put this game away relatively early. The first try came when the Irish pulled up on the wing after moving the ball nimbly across one way and then moved it back across and Burns found space again for the first try. The swarming defense shortly there after earned the Irish a scrum in NOVA territory. An ugly scrum saw Burns at scrumhalf pop out with the ball, shrug off NOVA's scrum half and finish untouched into the try zone. Early in the second half the third try came when Burns hit a half whole in NOVA's defense and snuck a pass to Kusner who finished. The final try of a dominating half again saw the Irish pull up on the wing and move the ball back across the field. As Justin Brandenburg played text book sevens and went to loop a pass he just made to Kusner the entire defense seemed to follow his huge guns and him while Kusner shooted in for the try. The scoring was rounded out as Burns and Kusner again found themselves with a 2 on 1 on the outside. Burns made a lame dummy attempt with nonetheless worked and finished for the try. Notable standout was, again, JB who is getting it done for the Irish without scoring, but rather deftly handling kicks and playing shutdown defense on the outside.
Irish Green over NOVA II
Irish Green v NOVA II (Quarterfinals)
No, not a typo. The seedings worked out so that Irish Green turned around and immediately played NOVA II again. While this one was a good bit closer Irish Green was in control the entire time. Adam Copp and Kusner added tries to their pile in the win as well. It was a just ok team effort but with the day beginning to drag on it was good not to see a let down.
Irish Green over NOVA II
Irish Green v Western Suburbs (Semifinals)
The semis had Green pitted against a Western Suburbs team that had a few "burners" on their team. Up until this game, while the Irish had played some good teams there was not really a player that had outstanding speed. Green players also had a preview of Western Suburbs showboating in the try zone against their mates on Irish White and thus were carrying a bit of a chip on their shoulder. While there were some very athletic tries in the game, the story, again, was the defense. Whenever Suburbs would get the ball wide to their stars it more closely resembled a triple team of Shaq in the low post. If they managed to the ball out of 'low post' the Irish defense adjusted quickly and covered the field. They even tried some pop kicks that were covered by a host of Irish players, most significantly JB. Hanson put the first try in with a clever dummy and change of pace. In the second half he would also assist a try to Copp. Danny O'Conner also had a very nice break but was ultimately caught by his jersey but hit Kusner screaming on at full pace to finish. The defense ultimately broke late in the game, but the try only hurt Green's stats as they win by a few tries.
Irish Green over Western Suburbs
Irish Green v Richmond (Finals)
Looking to shake the monkey off their back from being perennial second place finishes last season Green took the field against a hungry, if perhaps a little beat up, Richmond Lions RFC. Green also looked a bit fatigued from a long day of both their games, watching Irish White as well as getting glimpses of team mate Mark Seiss- a hired gun for NOVA I this summer- lend a hand in the premier division. Again what stood out most in this game was not individual play but that even fatigued Irish Green remained disciplined on defense as well as offense. Both Irish tries in the game came off at least a half dozen passes each with almost every player touching the ball. The first one saw Kusner take a pass, finally get caught dish to O'Conner who took it another 20 meters and ultimately dish to Adam Copp who finished. It should be noted that finishing is not, has not and will not be an issue going forward for Copp, or Cotton as Duma perhaps ironically calls him. Yet another recent recruit from VT, Copp is sized like a lock or loose forward but can likely outrun most anybody in any position on the field. Richmond threatened early inside the Irish 5 meter line but the Irish defense held and eventually turned the ball over. Early in the second half Richmond answered with a very nice try under the post when one of their players did well to keep his feet and hit a supporting looper for the break. With score tied late in the game JB deftly corralled a kick deep in Green territory and raced ahead into 2 defenders. JB popped the ball to Justin Brandenburg, who popped it to Kusner who was on the sideline. He cut back in and passed it back to Brandenburg, who passed it to Anthony Rodgers who ran across the field and found contact. A cagey ruck by Burns secured the ball and Thomson picked it, passed it to JB who once again ran towards space drawing two defenders. JB popped it to Brandenburg again on his right, who got the ball back to Kusner on the sideline. Kusner did one cut back to his left, and out ran the defenders for the winning try as time expired.
Irish Green over Richmond for Championship
MVP of the tournament goes to the rock solid Irish Green Defense. Allowing only 3 tries in five games with consistency and continuity that would be expected only of teams that are either more familiar with each other or have extensive experience in the game of sevens. Other standouts include JB. At the onset of the sevens season it looked like JB would be our token finisher and burner. While he has done a fair share of that, it is perhaps more impressive the way he has adapted his game to be a pillar on the outside of the Irish defense and made himself a student of sevens. The VT crew of Brandenburg and Copp showed skills both in getting around the field, never giving up on a play and excellent finishing. Danny O'Conner played cagey all day and did it as he always does; quietly and efficiently. A surprise standout sevens player.
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Irish White Hang 32 On Carrol County; Bow Out In Quarterfinals
Signal Point Park- June 16, 2007
Irish White v Carrol County CC
Irish White finally kicked off their first game at around 11:15 after an early role call at 8 AM against a fairly inexperienced Carrol Community College. Irish Green took to heart lessons from last week and showed remarkable patience led by captain and flyhalf James "DJ" Holman. Irish broke put the first points on the board early with a very well run loop from Jason "Smiley" Marley to Eric "Casper" O'Neil. White would put two more tries up in the first half with some crafty running by Robert "Bob" "Guido" Guido, excellent distribution and running from Marley and some cagey veteran looking play by Casey "Horace" Kratzer. Tries by Holman and Guido. The second half saw more of the samewith Cameron picking up some of the slack making some long runs and finishing one in the corner. Seth Gazes came on to score two tries in the second half one of which saw every Irish player touch the ball and Timmy selflessly dump it off to Gazes in the corner. James Holman put across one more to finish the scoring. Great defense…
Irish White 32-0 over CCCC
Irish White v Richmond
The same starting 7 took the field for the second match against Richmond. White kicked off to Richmond and quickly found themselves down after the Lions put a few passes together,found a gap and finished under the posts. White got little respite as they failed to maintain possession following the restart and fond themselves backed against their own try line. A strong defensive effort and a pair of scrums followed but ultimately could not prevent Richmond from putting another try in. On the kickoff the Irish moved forward into Richmond territory and strung together some fine passes before finally losing possession and found themselves down 19-0 at half following another try. Irish White had little luck in the second half as Richmond played their kickoffs well and managed to retrieve a pair. They also took advantage of Irish mistakes and made few of their own for White to capitalize on. The Irish mounted one solid final effort as time wound down giving strong support play to one another and retaining the ball through several breakdowns. They didn't, however, manage to capitalize and failed to put some points on the board. The entire team played with a lot of heart and resolve with James Holman and Bob Guido giving particularly strong efforts in a losing cause.
Richmond over Irish White
Irish White v Western Suburbs (Quarterfinals)
Irish White made it out of pool play, largely due to their performance in their first match and got a shot in the quarterfinals against a fast and agile Western Suburbs side. A few changes were made to the starting seven the Irish White side that kicked off was hungry for a win following their loss to Richmond in the final group game. Western Suburbs was able to put points on the board in short order as they shifted the ball wide and outran the Irish defense. This set an unfortunate precedence as Western Suburbs were able to use long passes throughout the match to shift the ball wide to their faster players. Irish White hung in however, using some offensive momentum and were rewarded with a try after Dave Beard made a break through the WS line and was followed through by several Irish players. An off load to Tim Donovan finished the play for an Irish score. A tough second half saw WS stifle the Irish offence by pressuring up on kickoffs and the Irish gave away too many opportunities with poor passes and hesitating to corral loose balls. To the credit of White they never gave up and played with class until the final whistle despite being a bit outgunned by the shifty back dominated WS. Dave Beard had a standout performance and Marley gave a strong effot distributing the ball deftly in this match and all day.
Western Suburbs over Irish White
Irish White made a significant improvement from their
performance the previous week at the Pick 7s. Despite
little continuity in terms of personnel, their play
with the ball in hand was more composed, their
defensive effort tighter and more communicative, and
their resolve in the face of strong opposition
consistent and admirable. Work remains to be done,
particularly in the areas of support play and offesive
communication, but the ground on which future efforts
will be built is solid.
In a side that featured many true-forwards it is not
surprising that players more accustomed to playing in
the tight-five stood out. Tim Donovan ran hard all day
and gave his all, while Dave Beard did an excellent
job fielding and covering kickoffs and hunting for
gaps in opposition defenses. Man of the Match goes to
Bob Guido, whose tenacious effort throughout the
course of day belied the fact that is was his first
ever experience at 7s. Well done Guido; we're looking
forward to more inspiring performances throughout the
summer.
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