First thing in the morning on Friday, we did a quick head-count...and realized that we were only traveling with 15 guys. We then checked the match schedule for the weekend...and noticed that in our first match (8am Saturday), we were pitted up against the "Society of Legends", from Dublin, Ireland. Yes, Ireland. That said, we quickly assumed that the cards were largely stacked against us...and were at least happy to have a few pony kegs of yummy-goodness from Erie Brewing.
Shortly after kickoff, we realized that not only could we hang with the tournament favorites...we actually had a shot at beating them. The Muskies struck first when flyhalf Nasty Nate sliced through the hinge of a sweet maul, and took the ball 20 meters for our first try of the day, directly under the posts. The irish answered right back with a quick try around the outside, but missed the kick...leaving us up 7-5. Erie got on the board again with a penalty kick from 20 meters out, and went into halftime with a 10-5 lead. The irish came out swinging in the second half, and although we held strong physically...our minds got the best of us. With a few questionable calls and an early second half try by our opponents, tensions (and mouths) were running high. Add in a couple converted penalty kicks, and the irish were now up on us 16-10. The muskies answered back with an unconverted try, bringing the game to within a point (16-15). In the final minutes of the match, the irish were awarded a 5 meter scrum...and of course tried an 8-man pickup to seal the deal. Unfortunately, when our 8-man made the try-saving tackle...he was called for "releasing his bind"?!?!...and they were awarded a penalty try, putting them up 23-15. This would be the final score, and the closest score of the weekend for the irish boys in what was admittedly their toughest match of the weekend.
Our second game was against the Old Gold RFC, out of Boston, Ma. This match went much better for us, as not only did we make a few personnel changes...but the boy's from Harrisburg finally made their way to the pitch to give us some much needed depth! Again the Muskies struck first with an unconverted try, but were met with some pretty stiff opposition for most of the match. We closed out the scoring with another unconverted try, to close with our first win of the day...10-0.
Our third game was against Montclair RFC out of New Jersey. This match was a do or die situation, with the losing team being eliminated from the tournament. With many of our guys tired from whoring with other teams during the day, we took the field unsure of whether or not we could pull this one out. After being down 24-20 in the last 10 minutes of play, the Muskies mounted an all out offensive attack. After rippin' and a tearin' our way inside the Montclair 22 meter line, Zach "Ra-tard" Rhodes broke through the wall of tacklers and dished a sweet pass to Harrisburg President Greg Ball 5 meters from the line. Ballsey had no choice but to dive in under the posts for the winning try...sending us to the Consolation Semi-Final at 8am on Sunday!!
After limiting ourselves to a handful of beers that night, we woke up early Sunday morning for the dreaded Semi-Final. Sadly enough for us, our props decided that they had had enough, and hung up their boots for the day. With our future uncertain, we arrived at the pitch to see the Harrisburg guys getting dressed at the end of our pitch. Luckily for us, two of them were props...and after singing the national anthem, we took the field against Providence RFC, out of Rhode Island. The match got off to a great start for us, as we immediately went on the offensive. After scoring our first try, they decided to start kicking the ball...right to one of our best ball-runners! After bobbling the first kick, Billy took the ball 40 meters to set us up with great field position...which set up our second try of the day. Within minutes, they put another one deep...and Billy promptly took it to the house from inside our own 22. We were able to put one more down before the half, leaving us up 26-0...and poised to play in the Consolation Final!! The second half was actually much closer, as they finally decided to put their boots away and play. Providence was able to put down one try before the final whistle...but it was too little, too late.
Our last match was against the Cardinals RFC out of Virginia (I was told Canada) for 3rd Place overall out of 32 teams. We of course had to borrow guys with the loss of our usual props, blockhead, and myself...and the Cardinals had obviously done the same, as they had guys from Brockport, PSU, and a few others. With over 25 guys kitted up for them, we got started in what was one of our toughest matches of the weekend. The game stayed locked at 0-0 for much of the first half. The Muskies struck first when Nasty Nate hit the first drop goal of his career, putting us up 3-0 going into the half. After the half, we continued to bash heads with the Cards...and after 10 minutes, they were awarded a penalty kick that tied the match at 3. After a few more minutes, they were awarded another penalty, and took the lead 6-3. In the final minutes of the match...the Cards finally got the best of us, and put down 2 unanswered tries to take home the 3rd Place plaque.
