The A team

On a good day for rugby, Mystic River took the field against the Irish Wolfhounds, following a disappointing performance against NOVA; we opened the game strong taking the play to the Wolfhounds.  This resulted in the referee awarding a penalty try, converted by Martiano, to the Mystics following a Wolfhound late tackle in the back line.  The Wolfhounds responded with an unconverted try within 2 minutes.  Both sides were never able to get a complete hold on the game, although both sides played some nice rugby and solid tackling throughout the side, limited the scoring opportunities. Martiano, slotted a penalty in the 14^th minute to respond to a Wolfhound try, the first half scoring was completed with a converted Wolfhound try in the 40th minute.

The first half was full of missed opportunities for Mystic River, resulting in a half time score line of 10 – 17

The second half started with us playing into the wind again, as in the previous week we started poorly with only some committed tackling stopping the Wolfhounds from scoring early.  The Wolfhounds scored on the 10-minute mark with a converted try. The Mystics kept on playing hard with strong running from the backs and loose forwards, but were unable to break the Wolfhounds line, coming close on several occasions.  The Wolfhounds scored 2 more tries in the second half, the last was converted.

We played well in patches, showing us what can be achieved when the forwards and backs combine to play to their full potential.

The B Team started well against a strong Wolfhounds second side, scoring 2 early tries.  The game remained relative close through the first half, with the B’s not making the most of the opportunities as they came along. The lack of execution in both forwards and backs, combined with the changes to personnel and position after the break allowed the wolfhounds to pull away to the final score.