Irish Fall in Opener
Accokeek, MD- On Saturday, September 8th the Washington Irish RFC kicked off their 2007 season at home in Accokeek, MD against defending MARFU champions Norfolk. The weather reminded everybody that playing in MARFU one has to be ready to play on ice and rock, snow and rain, and blistering heat and numbing cold. On Saturday the temperatures soared, there was not a cloud in the sky and no wind to be found during a day that was jovially described by one player as, "unacceptably hot". Lucky enough for competitive sports, both teams as well as the referee are enduring the same environment. This was also the debut for new coach Clay Gardner who was relocated to the DC metro area and is looking to turn around the last two years in which the Irish have missed the playoffs.
In what may have been an omen for the entire day, off the kickoff the Irish failed to support their own ball carrier and were immediately hit with a penalty that Norfolk converted into three points. Following the quick deficit the Irish put together some nice phase play that was killed by a Norfolk infraction. A penalty kick attempt was missed by skipper Anthony Caron.
Play went back and forth for a while highlighted by the Irish back line giving nothing to the bigger Norfolk backs. Off a scrum 8-man Jerod Jazenski picked and hit Jon "Head" Hansen with a pop pass. Hansen then found Brad "Box" Burns finding a gap in the Norfolk back line. Burns charged down field only to find the Norfolk fullback. Irish quickly regrouped and maintained possession. Several hard runs by Nate Kusner, Chris Putnam and Hansen resulted in nothing and the ball was eventually turned over when Burns got isolated in support of Hansen. The ball was cleared and an excellent opportunity squandered.
The Irish's next opportunity came on a broken play that was straightened up by Wade Deliberto finding another hole in the defense. His attempted pop kick ended up in Norfolk's hands and the ball was again cleared.
Norfolk regained possession and put pressure on during a serious of Irish miscues and penalties. After on of the penalties Jazenski had seen enough and had an outstanding stick on an unsuspecting Norfolk attacker. Norfolk came back with some more solid phase play that kept the Irish on their back foot. When the attack was seemingly stymied, Norfolk's fullback took a ball from their halfback standing and drilled a drop goal.
Off the kickoff the Irish quickly moved the ball down field and scored when Jazenski took the ball weak off a scrum and found the try zone. Conversion by Caron was pushed wide. Immediately following Norfolk applied pressure and found themselves inside 10 meters of the Irish try line. The scrum was to the Irish in what would have likely been a clearing kick. Instead a botched scrum resulted in Norfolk's flanker falling on the ball in the try zone.
That play may have been a microcosm of the entire game. Yes, the Irish did catch some bad breaks and had their chances, but good teams like the Norfolk, the defending MARFU champions, make their own luck and do not let teams get away with mistakes. In this circumstance, by playing deep in Irish territory and harassing Irish scrums all day they placed themselves in a situation to succeed and capitalized when the opportunity came. As Coach Gardner commented, "Full credit to Norfolk for sticking to their pattern which smothered our ball."
Off the kickoff Norfolk made the mistake of kicking to the ankle breaking back three consisting of Mark Seiss, fresh off helping the MARFU select side win the ITT 7s (pat him on the back if you see him around), Caron, and the John "JB" Baker. Seiss fielded the kick and where many wings would look to counter kick all Seiss saw was opportunity. He took the ball and flat out ran three Norfolk defenders, and drew two more before dishing to Jazenski. Jazenski, who was a terror to Norfolk defenders all day en route to his man of the match distinction, dragged Norfolk defenders down field before dishing to Dave Beard who winged the ball to a throng of attacking Irish back line players. Baker came away with it and dotted the ball down in the corner. "There were times during the match," added Gardner, "that we completely dominated and sliced through their backs." A conversion kick pushed wide by Caron ended the half.
After the half the Irish owned the kickoff and after a breakdown Kusner broke through and nearly found some points. A couple penalties and some decent phase play found Deliberto charging in for a try. In a last effort the ball was knocked forward in the tackle and a Norfolk player gave an "advantage" type pass that found the wing who scampered down the touch line over 90 meters for a try. Credit their winger with outrunning some of the Irish speedy players. Again, tough break for the Irish, but tip your hat to Norfolk for creating the opportunity and making Green pay.
The rest of the game saw much the same. Gardner observed, "I was pleasantly surprised at how well we played. However there were times that we fell asleep at the wheel and did not take the opportunities that were presented and convert them into points." The Irish kept pressure on for 90% of the time, but the first sign of lack of support or an errant pass was turned by Norfolk, as if with a Midas touch, into gold for them. Breaks in the back line by Caron, Burns as well as powerful running by Min Sae Chae off the bench and Hansen capably calling the shots at 10 all went for nothing as the Irish were largely unable to capitalize.
In a true Irish moment after Norfolk had pushed in another try the Irish regrouped in the try zone and decided that they were not about to roll over and mail it in for the last 10 minutes. Newcomer scrumhalf Jacob Patrick Daniel managed to eek a try out of the stingy Norfolk defense off a several phase series where the Irish showed their conditioning, will to compete, as well as pride. Perhaps it was best stated by the man at the helm, Gardner, "I let the lads know that I was proud of them after the match and that everyone that wears an Irish jersey should have been happy that they never showed a sign of quitting even when we were down by a dozen or so points near the end of the match. We kept running at them and made them work until the last whistle."
The game ended in a 35-16 loss for the Irish. Man of the match went to Jazenski, with an excellent performance turned in by Beard who was everywhere. Great A-side debuts by Timothy Donovan ("I've been waiting for this all summer"), Min Sae Chae, Daniel, Deliberto, John "Boots" Andrews, and Brian McCue. Credit the Irish back line with playing very well on defense and picking holes when they were there.
The game was not nearly as bad as the score but the Irish will have to minimize mistakes make their own luck, as Norfolk did, and play more consistently to have any chance at returning to Nationals. If that is in fact the ultimate goal, the Irish can rest assured knowing that the road will most certainly go through Norfolk.
This week the Irish travel to Annapolis to take on Severn River who has consistently played spoiler to the Irish in the last two years. Severn is always ready, as is anybody in MARFU South when it comes time to take a swing at the Irish.
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