August 14th 2007

TMR III 10 - Nomades 12

It was a beautiful Tuesday evening when our 3rds met at the clubhouse ahead of their quarter-final match versus the Laval Nomades; where we faced a rather unusual dilemma. It seemed for once that we had too many subs, a feat that given past experience seemed nigh impossible. So brimming with confidence and riding our coaches 3 game win streak we set off to Laval in hopes of moving on to semi-finals.

The game began with a flurry of attack on the part of the Nomades, attempting to march into our try zone off the first drive but Tmr defense was second to none. It did not take long though for penalties to rear its ugly head and after an astounding 40 meter kick from the Laval flyhalf, the Nomades were the first to draw blood. However not to be out done TMR came back with a vengeance; with a few good pick and gos by the forwards  the stage was set for Rob on the wing, after a timely pass by the centers he was given the open field and ran to touch the ball down for both his and Tmr’s first Try. 

The remainder of the half was play almost entirely in the middle of field, neither team penetrating the others 22. This was due in major part to Mehdi’s good hands and well placed kicks at fullback. Things were looking up for the Town but just before the end of the half we conceded another costly penalty near our 22 and the Laval 10 made no mistake about putting the ball right between the posts.  Score at half 6-5 for the Nomades.

The begging of the second half saw the Town again on the defensive, and again sound tackling and ruking stopped the opposition right in their tracks; sadly though this would all be undone by another penalty. With the kick the Nomades widened their lead 9-5.

Following the restart the Town began to pick things up. Throughout the whole game scrums had been in our favor with multiple steals against the head. True domination was shown by our superior pack off a 5 meter scrum following a held up try; the massive front row duo Sean & Frankie led the pack to march right into the try zone allowing for James to simply touch it down for the Towns second try. 10-9 Town.

The Nomades were not ready to give up just yet; they tried again and again to break through the Towns line but always came up short. It wasn’t until Tmr was charged another penalty that the game took a turn for the worst; luckily the flyhalf missed the short kick to allow Tsunami to charge up the pitch. There was a short period of back and forth kicking that eventually led to the Town conceding yet another penalty; at this point the ref decided he had heard enough from some of the players and moved the mark another 10 meters. This lined up the Laval 10 for another 35+ meter penalty kick which he just barely converted. 12-10 Nomades.

What followed in the last 2 minutes of play was some of the most brilliant rugby seen this year. The town drove up the pitch determined to score once more but were stopped just shy on the 22 and lost possession in a maul and a Laval center broke through the line and attempted to put us away for good……. Or so he thought; Mehdi made a nice tackle and with support from the wing we regained the ball and pressed the attack. The backs managed to run the ball to about the 3 meter line where the ball was lost in a ruck( Unseen to the ref… a Laval player stole the ball from within the ruck and produced it on the other side.) a Laval player kicked the ball out and that was all she wrote.

Final Score: TMR 10- Laval 12

Tries: Rob, James

Player of the Match: This honor went to Mehdi for his superb play and crunching tackles at Fullback throughout the whole game.

Also a special thanks to Frankie and Sean playing in their last game for the season.

Good luck with Football!

Cheers.

TMR II 15 –  Irish II 19

Tries: Alec Montealegre (2), Marcos Ceretti

Directly following the Thirds’ victory over the Wanderers, TMR Seconds stepped on to the field to immediately start the match versus the Irish, despite the fact that at least half of the team had played at some point during the previous game.

TMR put on the pressure from the start, with quick ball to the backs and many pick ang go’s. Within the first 10 minutes, Étienne ran the ball directly out of a ruck, and swung it wide to Alec, who rocketed to the corner for an unconverted try. Following the restart, the play eventually shifted to our 10 meter line, where the Irish were awarded a scrum. Tony deftly stole their ball, however the ref thought otherwise. Irish got a free kick and the Town were too slow to retreat, leading to the first try for the Irish. As the game continued in the first half, the Irish were once again awarded a penalty in our corner; this time, we retreated in time to prevent any quick ball. The Irish had other plans, who kicked the ball to their far winger for another try. TMR responded with renewed intensity for the remainder of the half, eventually finding Alec some space on the side, who chipped it over the defenders and outran the Irish backs to touch the ball down at the very end of their try zone. Score at the half: 12-10 for the Irish.

The beginning of the second half saw a lot of back-and-forth play. Unfortunately for TMR, the ref insisted upon uncontested scrums due to inexperience in the Irish front row. By this point, our pack had been dominating in the scrums, winning all our balls and stealing almost anything else. The Irish were awarded a scrum on our 5 meter line, and while we defended well against a pick by their 8-man, the Irish managed to score off of third phase ball to their backs. Once again, the Town upped the pressure upon the restart, with stong crashes by Mark in the centers, and with breaks up with wing by Mehdi. TMR was soon awarded a penalty at the Irish 22 which was run by Frankie, drawing about 4 defenders to tackle him. The backs assaulted the open space, and Marcos touched the ball down for his first try for TMR.

Trailing by 4 points, the Town played the rest of the game in the Irish half. Étienne broke into space and swung the ball to Oliver, who exploded up the field, chip kicking it over the Irish defense. Sabereen, Étienne, and Oliver chased it down, but were cut short just shy of the try line by an Irish winger. Many more scoring attemps came up short of the try line, leading to a very frustrating loss over the Irish.

Final score: 19-15 for the Irish. Man of the match goes to Alec for his 2 huge tries, as well as for expertly leading the backs on the attack the whole game.

TMRIII vs Nomades

For a great many of our TMR players our game at Laval was a walk down memory lane. We were playing on the field where many of our team mates first played or even herd of Rugby (thanks to the legend of McMullen). It was an early game but that did not curb the sweltering heat and humidity. With a little confusion and some people playing out of position we took the pitch with fifteen determined players and no substitutes.

We made our presence known early scoring first early in the game after many phases and constantly breaking the gain line by both backs and forwards. The first try would go to a rookie named Louis who broke two tackles and sidestepped the rest on his way into the end zone. After a second try and two good conversions it seemed everything was going the way of the knights.

Laval came back with some spirited play and TMR was showing some signs of fatigue in the heat. Laval went though many phases of rugby to finally score in the corner. To add to Laval’s fortune we lost Percy our nine to a shoulder injury. We had no subs and had no choice but to continue with fourteen players. A slow floating pass from Darcy as new scrum half was intercepted by Laval’s center with pace and he ran in for another Laval try. To add to this we lost another player with a foot injury, and were down to thirteen players. We regrouped in the end zone and after some wise words from Laurent, we decided our rest was over and it was time to go all out.

With TMR having only thirteen players for the majority of the second half TMR played by far their best Rugby of the day. We managed to win all of our own rucks and mauls and the backs broke the gain line with nearly every carry. Two more trys inevitably came from all the hard work and it seemed fitness was a big part of TMR holding our lead and winding the gap. Louis was named player of the game with special mention to Phillip who showed a lot of heart without the two trys to brag about.

 Final score: TMRIII 26 - Nomades 12
Tries: Louis (2), Laurent (1), Jean-Sebastien (1)

July 21, 2007

TMR II 5 – Ormstown II 22

Tries: David Boire

TMR went on to the field Saturday morning expecting to make up for the previous weekend`s preformance vs Sherbrooke with a win against Ormstown; this, unfortunately, was not the result. Fielding a legitimate seconds team, TMR fought valiantly against the Saracens from start to finish. Former townie Shaun Blair led the Saracens offensivly, placing stategic kicks deep into our end, one which led Ormstown to their first try. TMR responded defensively with strong tackles from the likes of Marti and Mark; however our offensive attacks often fell short of the gain line for the rest of the half. Score by the end of the half: 10-0 for Ormstown.

The start of the second half saw TMR attack deep into the Ormstown end. A penalty was rewarded ten meters out, and following a huge crash from both Frankie and Fitness, David scored TMR`s first and only try of the game. Despite dominance in the lineouts thanks to Oliver and a steady scrum, the Town was unsuccessful in adding any more points to our side of the scoreboard. Near the end of the second half, Ormstown managed to squeeze two more, rather lucky, tries through TMR`s defense, further driving the game out of reach.

Final score: 22-5 for Ormstown. Man of the match goes to Marti for his strong hits and for getting dumped on his head by Shaggy. Things to remember for next game: get to the meeting point on time to ensure a proper warm up, and whatever you do, don`t think its a good idea to look at Timperly making kissy faces at Alec`s girlfriend in the other lane; its not worth crashing into the car in front of you.

July 14th 2007

Town of Mont-Royal   vs  Rugby Club de Montréal   4th division.  Home game au parc Laurier

Arrivée au Club House, l'équipe de 4ieme Division se croyait déjà vaincu en se préparant  à affronter RCM avec seulement 13 joueurs. Mais bien sur, la chance était de leur côté puisque RCM se retrouva avec 12 joueurs. La partie commença sur le terrain du Parc Laurier  avec 12 joueurs de chaque bord.

L'équipe du Mont-Royal fut très dominante, les avants semblaient très à l'aise avec le ballon et ils réussirent plusieurs belles courses. Mais RCM fut les premiers a marqué grâce à une longue course de leur centre. TMR a continué à dominer physiquement et Paul Timperley réussit un kick pour procurer 3 points à TMR (5-3). Peu après, RCM marqua de nouveau (10-3). TMR égala la marque en fin de demi grâce à un essai de Marty et une conversion réussie de la part de Timperley (10-10).

11 juillet 2007

TMRIII 12 – Beaconsfield 34

La journée s’annonçait mal. Tout juste avant notre arrivée à Beaconsfield, il pleuvait encore à torrent. Le terrain s’était donc ramolli alors que la  pluie cessait peu à peu. L’équipe de Beaconsfield avait l’expérience et la force mais nous, nous avions la jeunesse et la rapidité. Dans les premières minutes de jeu, nos hôtes ouvrirent la marque avec un essai et une transformation (7-0) suite a un plaqué manqué par TMR. Personne ne s’y attendait mais cela nous força à nous concentrer d’avantage et à donner notre 100%. Dommage que cela ne se soit produit qu’après que Beaconsfield eut réussi à nous repousser deux fois de suite dans notre ligne de 22 mètres qui se virent accorder deux buts sur pénalité. Marque 13-0 pour Beaconsfield.

C’est alors que les arrières de TMR montrèrent un peu de vie. Après une sublime course de plus de 30 verges exécutée par Mehdi, Glenn s’empressât de prendre le ballon. Après avoir évité l’ailier arrière de Beaconsfield, Glenn passa le ballon à Alec qui courra sur le côté du terrain en déjouant trois des arrières de Beaconsfield donnant à TMR son premier essai. Transformation ratée. (13-5)

La deuxième demie fut assez similaire. Les avants de Beaconsfield, étant beaucoup plus costaux, nous donnèrent beaucoup de fil à retordre dans les mêlées mais surtout dans les mêlées spontanées. Il faut aussi noter que TMR domina dans les remises en jeu. Le trio entre le talonneur Milad et les deux réceptionnaires Nick Prudhomme et Diego ne passa pas inaperçu. Lors des remises en jeu défensives, la performance de Diego était notable puisqu’il réussit à déstabiliser l’adversaire plus d’une fois résultant par un regain du ballon par TMR.

La pression des avants de Beaconsfield se fit sentir encore de plus fort lorsqu’ils repoussèrent une mêlée sur notre ligne de 5 mètres pour produire un nouvel essai. Transformation réussie. (20-5) Beaconsfield ne s’arrêta pas là. TMR concéda un autre essai à Beaconsfield dans les arrières. (27-5)

C’est alors que Mike Wadsworth, ancien joueur de Beaconsfield, montra une fois de plus ses nombreux talents. Même s’il jouait dans les arrières, son style de jeu reflétait tout de même sa vraie position étant un ailier avant. Mike mit la main sur le ballon et le transporta de notre ligne de 22 jusqu’à celle de Beaconsfield. Ensuite, nous nous firent accorder deux pénalités de suite qui nous positionna sur la ligne des 5 mètres. Cela permit à Mike Wadsworth, après avoir fait une fausse passe, de percer la ligne défensive et de marquer le deuxième essai pour TMR. Transformation réussie par Alec. Marque (27-12). Beaconsfield n’apprécia pas la tournure des évènements (nous pouvions quand même sentir un peu de fierté de leur part a l’égard de leur ancien coéquipier) et revint à l’offensive pour marquer le dernier essai de la partie. (34-12)

Performance remarquable par Steve « kiwi » Taylor pour ses nombreuses courses et Jean-Sebastien Bleau pour sa performance dans les mêlées spontanées.

July 7th 2007

TMR II 33 – Sherbrooke II 5

Tries: Sabri Yuzgulec, Malin Jordan (2), David Boire, Paul Timperly
Conversions: Paul Cote (4)

After a long and tedious 4-week break from competition, TMR II’s continued their winning streak this weekend at the Rec Centre with a commanding victory over the Sherbrooke Abenakis.

TMR took charge of the game immediately with strong offensive work in the forwards and hard crashes in the centres. Capitalising on heavy winds, Alec made many strategic kicks at fly-half, allowing TMR to spend the majority of the first 40 minutes in Sherbrooke’s half. A solid pick from Malin early on in the game gave TMR’s backs the space they needed, with Sabri crashing through the opposition’s backs to score the first try of the game, complimented by a successful conversion from PC.

TMR dominated the remainder of the first half, with both forwards and backs gaining ground on the Abenakis. Malin continued his offensive onslaught, scoring two converted tries before the Ref whistled for half-time.

The second half saw a more balanced game; Sherbrooke turned it up on the attack while TMR conceded one-too-many penalties. Despite this, TMR still managed to gain the upper hand with some great work in the scrums, allowing both Tony and, later on, Milad to steal the opposition’s ball. Lineouts were also very successful, with one steal leading to a huge crash by Fitness, paving the way for a try by David. Once again, PC hits the conversion.

Following TMR’s fourth try, the Abenakis fought back with renewed intensity, driving the ball back behind our 22. After being awarded a free kick, Sherbrooke capitalised on defensive mistakes and managed to land one unconverted try in the corner. TMR fought back immediately, sending the ball wide to Timperly who touched the ball down in the corner for TMR’s fifth and final try.

Final score: 33-5 for the Town. Man of the Match goes to Malin for his strong tackles and great offensive work. 

TMR3 12 – St-Jean 24

Sunday morning. We all met at the Clubhouse after a night of debauchery. Indeed, many of us attended Choirboy and Morgan`s bday bash while other went to spend the night at our sponsor Mile End. Needless to say, most of us were hung over.

We then departed towards St-Jean. It didn’t look really good with very few numbers (17 players) with most of them out of position. But hey, since when does TMR back down because of a number problem? Remember Quebec 2 seasons ago when we had 14 players only and won the game that got us into the playoff and ultimately won the league?

So we started strong, putting a lot of pressure and dominating in the first quarter. Our forward were winning the rucks and holding that defense line like their life depended on it. But it was the skills of our backs with their high speed and swift sidesteps that ended up doing all the tries.

Second quarter of the game, St-Jean scored first (5-0) breaking through the line. The TMR pack came close to score again and again, being often inside the 22 but without reaching that try line until the backs realized that they had two wingers and that they could use them. Indeed, Mister Flight Attendant broke through the line, had that great run and when the fullback came to tackle him, he passed it to Sabereen “still need to find a nickname, how’s mini Sabri?” Munir and off he was to score TMR`s first try. No conversion (What did you say Paul? You don’t need a cone? You’d rather drop kick? Alright, go ahead) (5-5 St-Jean)

At that point, the forwards started to get pushed back in scrums….yeah, it stayed this way till then end of the game. Too loose guyz, too loose, you gotta be tighter, and seconds, please, if you don’t do it for the team, do it for me, when you go in, get u head low at knee level, get in, and then push up. Keeps the front row stable and that way you assume a good support position. Yeah well, we got drove back in a maul, St-Jean scored again (10-5). And again, don’t remember how exactly (17-5).

But then, the play right after that last try from St-Jean, the back made a ply of genius that resulted in Msindo “Tsunami” (also known as “the new black guy”) scoring his first try with TMR, he has yet to shoot the boot. (17-12)

Three minutes left to the game. You could feel the tension in the air. Glenn told Alec from the sidelines “Just follow your instincts!” and Alec replied “I have no instincts today” Yeah…..the ball went to the backs, to Alec, who made a not so good pass that got intercepted and St-Jean scored again.
Final score (24-12)

What have we learned from this story? Saturday is a rugby day and Sunday is a day of rest. On that note we will leave it up to the VP Fixture to not schedule a Sunday game again.

The End.

Samedi 9 Juin 2007
TMR I 21 vs Wanderers 25

Tries: Alcide Deschenes, Sebastien Vittecoq (2)
Conversions : Steve McNeil (2), Pat Ghattas

Ce fût une rude journée pour le club de “VMR” qui se vit affligé de son premier revers cette année face aux Wanderers de Montreal. Les festivités s’annonçaient rudes dès le début en cette chaude journée au Parc Douglas : d’une part de par la rivalité animant chaque rencontre entre les deux clubs et d’autre part par la flambée du mercure sous le soleil du midi.

Les Wanderers n’ont pas perdu de temps, appliquant de la pression sur la défensive de Ville Mont-Royal dès la mise en jeu. Usant successivement de courses solides par leurs plus gros avants ainsi que de jeux de finesses de la part d’un groupe d’arrières qui à prouvée profiter d’une bonne chimie. Néanmoins les premiers assauts furent contrôlé par de solide prestations défensives telles celles de Rob « Bob » Grodinsky et Alun Philips qui ont travaillé sans relâche, plaquant tous ce qui ne partait pas de tenue jaune. Les hôtes néanmoins furent les premiers à ouvrir la marque trouvant une ouverture entre deux de nos avants. Marque qui sera emboitée par un tir de pénalité leurs donnant les devant 10-0.

Ne baissant pas les bras le « jaune et bleu marin » essaya de monter une contre attaque qui malheureusement fut infructueuse face à une défense bien organisé. Cette dernière, réussissant à prévoir les mouvements offensifs de TMR, permis aux Wanderers de non seulement les neutraliser mais de plus à ouvert la porte à leur avants pour se reposer en attendant d’intercepter nos arrières en retour au milieu de terrain.

C’est à vrai dire lorsque le club de Ville Mont-Royal se mis à improviser qu’il engendra ses plus belles séquences avec balles en mains; parfois même en remontant la presque totalité du terrain sans avoir besoin de recourir à quelque mêlée que ce soit. Profitant ultimement d’un scrum en territoire adverse, la balle fut acheminé jusqu’à Alcid qui se paya le luxe de marquer à son retour d’un retraite écourtée (pas mal pour un estropié…). Marque à la demie : 10-7 pour les Wanderers.

La deuxième demie s’avère être pleine de suspense alors que les deux équipes se démènent pour prendre les devants. Dave Macleod et Sébastien Vittecoq se démarquant lorsqu’en possession du ballon, travaillant implacablement (et ce presque littéralement) pour trouver un faille. C’est cette vivacité qui mena au premiers essai de Seb qui ne se laissant pas intimider par l’adversaire ce relève à deux reprise sur la même lancé, récupérant son propre ballon et le déposant entre les deux poteaux de buts. Sur ce TMR prend les devants 14 à 10 dans la joute.

Les Wanderers réussiront cependant à répliqué par deux essais; avec un de ceux-ci sur une interception par leur demie-d’ouverture Colin Robertson qui réussi à lire une longue passe flottante. Ajoutant une conversion le score culbute à 22-14 en faveurs des Wanderers.

Dans un dernier ralliement initié par une percée inusité de Dave Macleod sous le support de Pat Ghattas (catch de ball next time…even if its at your feet) TMR réussi à se mettre en position de marquer. Stabilisé par le recyclage de ballon de la part de Micheal Mooney et Mike Wadsworth, l’attaque de Ville Mont-Royal aboutira à un second essai de la part de Sébastien Vittecoq qui rapprochera son équipe à 1 point de l’équipe hôte (22-21).

Les Wanderers réussiront par contre à mettre le match hors de porté, profitant d’une pénalité dans les dernières secondes de la rencontre pour seller le score finale à 25-21.

Dure défaite pour Ville Mont-Royal qui s’incline face à une opposition qui à sue profiter des opportunités qui lui on été présentées. Cependant il est important de ne pas sous estimer les efforts de quelques Townies qui, comme ils le font toujours, ont travaillé sans relâche parce qu’ils sont muent par un engouement de jouer sans parallèle. Ils sont tous des exemples de la rage au cœur qui, quand exhibée par tous et chacun en unisson sur le terrain, fera de nous un groupe redoutable à affronter. Homme du match Dave Macleod pour son acharnement autant offensif que défensif. Mention spéciales pour Grody et Al qui à certains moments semblaient plaquer comme s’ils faisaient partie d’un jeu video.

June 9th 2007
TMR 2nds won once more!
TMRII 43 – Irish 15

Tries: Choirboy, Prudhomme, Frankie (2), Sabri, Goldberg, New Zealand Steve
Conversion: Paul Côté x2, Choirboy x2

What a Saturday it was! The weather was great, it was sunny, the birds were singing and the flowers were blooming! C’est pas beautiful ça? En plus de ça yavait de la poule partout, unbelievable! Everything was just perfect.

Did I just say perfect??? Well, maybe not so perfect in the first 20 minutes. Lots of sloppy balls, bad passes, bad hands. Basic skills were just a bit late to kick in. Well, at least the Irish had the same problem. On the plus side, the forward were playing really well (very tight).

After a couple of phases, New Zealand “ Your hands cant catch what your eyes cant see” Steve had a great long run that lead to a ruck, Percival passes to Alec who miss passes to Paul “New kid on the block” Côté who poped it to Paul “Choirboy” Timperley who slashes throught the opposition (4-5 guys) and scores right in the middle!!! Great team work guys. Conversion by Paul Côté (7-0 TMR)

The Irish were too fond of that so decided to push us back and back until they got a 5-yard scrum with a drive, that didn’t work though. They got a penalty, they ran it, couple of crashes, poor tackling skills on our part that lead to the Irish scoring. (7-7)

Not long after, Steve “Kiwi” Taylor (also known as New Zealand Steve) has once again a great f***ing run through a gazillion Irish players (the all blacks would be proud). That lead to TMR being close to the try line and the ball found itself lying in the try zone for someone, Nick “Ciara`s boyfriend” Prudhomme, to pick it up, but unfortunately he got held back while attempting to go for that ball. Yeah, referee gave TMR a penalty try. (which goes to the captain. In that case, it’s Nick. (Im not sure if that counts in the Chip Drury race)) Conversion Paul Côté (14-7 TMR)

Irish got in our 22, decided to kick for points (14-10 TMR). Irish scored again (14-15 Irish)

But TMR wouldn’t be accept defeat, so they pushes the Irish back till in the 10 yards line, and off a penalty which TMR decided to run, Frankie “You need more than 15 players on a team to stop me” Spera easily ran through the Irish line. (19-15 TMR)

Again, same scenario, but this time, the ball went to the backs, Alec did this amazing grubber but the Irish took it, yadiyadiyada with some sloppy balls always in the 5 yards, Sabri “The Turkish Rock” Yuzgulec was able to put his hand on the ball and scored! (24-15 TMR)

Alright, here’s a highlight, Irish had the ball, they wanted to kick it but Spera stuffed it, Irish retook it and rekick it, and this time Percy stuffed it (caught it really). That lead to more pushing the Irish back and Paul “my favority Jew guy” Goldberg to score. (29-15 TMR)

The play right after, Oliver “Tall Freak” Lavigueur had this great run, passes it to New Zealand Steve who has a great run himself and scores! Conversion Paul Timperley (36-15 TMR)

Sabri got the ball, ran through people as usual, pass to Mehdi “Insert a nickname here” Sabrah, great run, pass to nick, to spera and score! Conversion Paul Timperley (Final score 43-15 TMR)

Forwards were just inspired in that game, never holding back, always pushing, always there. Great support. TMR stole so many rucks, What can I say, we rule. Man of the Match: Corey “Im still underaged” White for amazing support during the whole game and for intensity.

I hope you all enjoyed this recap as much as you enjoy my accent. – Milad

June 2^nd 2007
TMR II opens 2^nd Div. season with a win
ParcO II 12 - TMR II 17 

If  the Town’s Seconds’ season opener is any indication of what lies ahead , we are all in for a wild ride.  Taking to a mercifully moist Parc Laurier field under clear blue skies, The Seconds fielded a genuine 2^nd Div. team, despite the Prems off week, to test their pre-season preparations against a well coached ParcO seconds side. 

With minutes to play in the 1^st half, both sides had yet to score.  The Town’s defense bent but refused to break despite several deep incursions into Town territory, muffled each time by ferocious desperation D. With the ball, however, the Town struggled to complete the exchange from scrum to the backs despite a dominant performance from our pack, anchored by Bobby “30 Somethin’” Swail at 8.  Just before the half, ParcO’s outside center squibbed a ball through on a broken play and charged for the goal-line to open the score with the conversion sailing wide.  Score at the half: ParcO II 5 – TMR II 0.

Coach JP “Can’t hold me down, Tabarnac” Martineau made some key substitutions at the half that included subbing himself in at wing, shifting Glenn “Manilla Shuffle” Imperial to scrum-half and sending off Percy who will be looking to redeem himself this up-coming weekend.  The substitutions made an immediate impact in the second half as Glenn burrowed and clawed for the ball, sending straight and true passes out to the backs and the supporting forwards.  With the town threatening near ParcO’s 22, Glenn popped from the base of the ruck to a trailing Swail who, in a moment of brilliant insanity, sent a 20-yard arching double-miss pass to a streaking Sabri “Turkish Assassin” Yuzgulec in space. Guess what? He scored, Paul Côté converted.  ParcO 5 – TMR II 7. 

The Seconds started to roll as ParcO wilted under the oppressive humidity and lost a number of players to injury.  A surprise for certain TMR vets was ParcO’s late substitution of former Townie Alex Grenier, entering the game at flanker.  We wish Alex a speedy recovery from an apparent dislocated shoulder only moments after stepping onto the field.  Getting their pass on, the backs put away Derek “Whatshisname” Newguy from the wing for his 1^st try; Derek made a nice cut-and-leap over the try line to touch the ball down on his first touch of the game. Twenty minutes to play, a confident Town leads 12-5.

Spurred on by their animated coach on the sidelines shouting jewels of wisdom from the sidelines such as “TABARNAAAAAAC!!!”, ParcO’s pack came to life, eager to take advantage of the Town being a man down after the ref sent Matt “Fitness” Edwards to the sin bin for a timeout.  ParcO opportunistically pushed their way over the try line and curved in the convert to even the score at 12. 

With the return of Fitness and a substitution in the forwards, the Town was determined to take back the precious lead that they had squandered; ParcO however had other plans, intent on making good for their home fans.  Displaying its fortitude from earlier in the 1^st half, the Town refused to yield despite deep and dangerous pushes to within grass blades of their goal line.  Going back to the well, the Town continued to feed Sabri the ball, pounding ParcO back 5 to 10 yards passed their gameline with each punishing run.  With time running out, the Town is awarded a penalty on ParcO’s 40.  After consulting the ref who assured us that we had time for one more line-out, Swail makes the decision not to go for points.  Paul “St-Vincent Choir Boy” Timperley kicks the ball out of bounds within ParcO’s 22.  Despite a broken line-out play, and the ball going over Oli “Tall Freak” Lavigueur, Bobby “30 Somethin’” Swail managed to catch the ball and the drive was on. Breaking the maul down within 10 meters from the tryline, Glenn spins the ball to the backs who have a massive overlap.  Sabri spins the ball to Alec “Sponge Bob” Montealegre who has a 2-on-none on the edge with nothing but the Promised Land ahead of him.  Convert hooks away, the whistle blows, TMR II wins in dramatic fashion 17-12.

Goldberg.

The TMR premier division side opened their 2007 season with a draw against the defending champions Montreal Barbarians, the match was slow going both ways and limited in terms of multi-phase play and runs at goal.

The Townies started the game with some strong runs by fullback Sebastien Vittecoq leading to the first try of the game around the 20 minute mark when Seb burst through the first line of defence and grubbered the ball deep into Barbs territory for flyhalf Adam Maclellan who aggressively chased the ball and touched it down between the posts. Scrumhalf Patrick Ghattas added the convert to put the Townies ahead 7-0 and later added a penalty goal to put TMR up 10-0 at halftime.

In the second half, TMR played a lot of defence.  One of the only highlights saw TMR build a wall on their 22 metre line.  Dave MacLeod – after getting his head stomped on by an opposition prop – and Alun Phillips tackled brilliantly.  The Barbs were only able to surpass the wall once to score a try down in the right hand corner of the end zone.  After an exceptional convert, TMR’s lead was cut to 10-7.  TMR’s scrum is much improved and was very reliable during crucial defensive moments however the Town was not able to relieve any pressure with strong kicks out of its defensive zone.

TMR had numerous opportunities to take the game to the Barbarians but they kept taking penalties and turning the ball over when they were down inside the Barbarians 22-metre line. The pace of the game slowed down dramatically in the 2^nd half and worked in the favour of the Barbs who preferred to limit the game to single phase play.

After some brilliant defensive tackling, bolstered by the likes of  P.P. Gros and Fitness, with about five minutes to go in the match, TMR forced the Barbs to take a penalty and the Town set up for a lineout deep in the offensive zone.  Unfortunately for Nic Clapinson’s crew, in what seemed to be the TMR theme of the day, a broken lineout play  allowed the Barbs to surge forward and TMR was pushed back to centre.  After a scramble, TMR conceded a penalty and the Barbs kicked the ball deep into the Townie end.

Off this play, TMR took another penalty and the Barbarians struck three points from the foul, tying the match 10-10 at the final whistle.

May 26^th 2007
TMR 3rd XV 17 - Barbarians 27
Tries: Alec Montealegre (1), Stephen Taylor (2)

That Saturday morning, things look good : warm and sunny temperature, people showed up on time (except for rookie Stephen Taylor) and preparation was well organized.  During the warm up, Stephen stepped aside to puke: was he nervous or hung over.  My personal experience tells me he was hung over.

Whistle blows and the game starts in our favour. TMR was showing good strength in the pack and mobility in the backs.  This was clear on the first try, when Laurent picks up a loose ball a the end of a Barb ruck, breaks a few tackles, passes to Corey who then feeds the ball as he is falling down to Alec in support. Result: Alec’s first try of the season.  Great instincts by all three players!

We knew the Barbs would not go down easy, and  they showed their experience in the backs when they ran right through our defence with a couple miss passes. The score was then 7-5 in their favour.

But that was until WE discovered our own secret weapon:  rookie Stephen.  Off a scrappy play, he showed us his moves on a tight run on the far side that resulted in his first try of his carrier.  He repeated that on another 50 yards run for his second try… I think the guy has speed for a drunken kiwi! TMR was up 17-7 at the half.

Stunned but not down, the Barbs benefited from bad penalties on our part.  They scored off their usual penalty play, followed by a boot through the post off another penalty.  With a tie game are guys started to tire out… we are obviously out of shape! The tension started to rise on the sidelines as sometimes doubtful calls put the Townies on their heels.  The Barbs backline then managed to cut through our backs, again with a miss pass.  That was followed by another converted penalty kick..  Final score: 27-17

Moral of the story: we have to learn how to protect our lead, practice shift defence and most importantly… even if you’re drunk you must perform!!!

JP