MALDEN, MA – While the Mystics had put their weekend off to good use, and put in a solid effort in the match against Boston, they didn’t take advantage of their opportunities in their 13-33 loss to Boston.
The first quarter of the match saw a large number of penalties at the breakdown, making it difficult for both teams to find continuity or momentum. The Mystics also had some struggles getting clean lineout ball during the first half, and gave up possession after gaining ground from penalties. Despite these struggles on offense, the Mystics still managed to contain Boston, conceding only 13 points during the half. Thanks to a penalty from flyhalf Tim Holkenborg, Boston’s half time lead was only 13-3.
During the second half, the Mystics started to keep the ball in tight and built some pressure as they moved the ball downfield. Unfortunately, the Mystics couldn’t quite convert all of the pressure into points: they made one or two crucial mistakes, and had the referee declare the ball held up right under the posts, and points were left out on the pitch. At the same time, Boston took full advantage of their opportunities and put 20 points on the board in the second half. The Mystics could only answer with unconverted tries from Jack Mahoney and Nate Fox, leaving the final score 13-33 to Boston.
Despite the unflattering score, the Mystics put in a strong showing and definitely improved on their performances last fall, where the Mystics only managed one try in their two meetings with Boston. The team put in a solid performance and has some clear issues to work on this coming week.
The Old Boys kicked off proceedings on Saturday in their first match of the season, but also struggled against their Boston counterparts, and finished up with a loss to start the day’s rugby.
The B side came out firing in the late afternoon and played a true 15-man game to win 31-19. This is a true testament to the B’s hard work this season, as Boston invariably have a very deep squad with a number of talented players sliding down to their B side. The B’s put their heads down and played as a team to earn themselves a really solid victory. We really need to ensure that the B’s can build on that momentum and grow stronger through the season so we can keeping adding to the depth of the squad.
The focus now shifts to NYAC this coming weekend, where the Mystics are heading down to New York to try and reverse their early season loss to the AC.
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