Griffon RFC News - 05/20/06
May 20th, 2006 - Loss to Flint.
I'd like to thank Dan, Jeremiah, Ryan, Shayne, Todd, Stephen, Mike, Mitch and Jim for travelling to Flint to represent the Griffons. I know they were disappointed that not more of their team-mates were able to make the trip. They put in a lot of effort in the game, and Flint kindly gave us enough players to fill out our team.
Our new player, Jim Miller, came to his first practice on Thursday and made the commitment to travel to Flint for his first game. He put in a lot of great tackles on the wing.
Jeremiah and Todd did some great work in the lineouts, securing our possession, and also cleanly winning the ball on Flint's put-in.
We managed a converted try and three penalties for 16 points. Flint ran in a few tries.
In pure rugby terms we outmatched Flint in the lineouts, matched them in the scrums, and were competitive in loose play. Flint just had some great athletes at many positions, and once they broke or dodged a tackle, they usually were able to score unassisted with their great speed.
We stuck to our game plan and made few mistakes, but suffered from some missed tackles.

I think our season outlasted the team for this last game. My suggestion is that we schedule the BC Classic as our last game before Memorial weekend, so that we can end our 15-a-side season at home.

In talking with the Flint President, they suffered through their 2005 Fall season with 16 players. They are now able to scrimmage two full teams at practice on Thursday nights, and it has obviously strengthened their team. That gives me optimism that we can also recruit enough players for our club so that we are always able to field a full strength side.

I said before the Spring season that I would judge our progress at the end of the season, and I'll ask the Club officers for their input and publish our thoughts after the Last Rites Of Spring on June 3rd.
There are many positives, and we can get stronger with each season.

We host the best tournament in Michigan - The Last Rites Of Spring Sevens - on Saturday June 3rd here in Battle Creek.
We will have over 20 teams in the Men's , Women's and High School divisions.

We have four practices left until June 3rd, so we will be practicing Sevens rugby to get ready for our tournament.

Special thanks to Gary Goidosik for his sponsorship - be sure to visit his website to support Gary's business.

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