NYM traveled to picturesque Rhode Island in eager mood to put this seasons early losses behind them. However, yet again we came unstuck by an opponent who wanted it just that bit more, and had 16 men.

NYM vs Newport RFC, 1st April 2006.
Place: Fort Adams, Newport, RI.
Weather: Sunny, with a Nor’Easter rolling the chilly fog in.
Ground: Good to firm.

A-side L 20-8.
I am just going to get it out of the way. The ref had a shocker. But without going into too much detail, due to the risk of sounding like sour grapes, I’ll leave it at that. Having said all that NYM didn’t help themselves. Although the lineouts were better Newport controlled the scrums until Matt Beckley was moved from 8 to prop in the second half. They were also quicker to the breakdown and more committed in the tackle. Despite all this it was a game that was there to be won. After a dour first 20 minutes Newport managed their first try. A good spell of continuity allowed Newport to get down into the 22, where their backs switched play back quickly to score in the blindside corner. NYM were able to come back down the field and Scott Crafton took a great line off a ruck to get into open space. He was hauled down just shy of the 22 but from the ensuing penalty Fitzy got his second attempt right. Halftime 8-3 Newport. The second half became more fractious as numerous decisions went the way of Newport, including two crucial ones that led directly to tries. NYM were irate because they felt that Newport had had similar decisions go their way. NYM had capitalized on the sin-binning of the Newport number 8 to score a well worked try though. Indeed, with what little ball they were given the backs looked dangerous. Duncan Heilbronn made inroads through the inside center channel while Fitzy ran hard in the unfamiliar position of outside center. However, NYM failed to work a further score while one of the Newport second rows sat out for 10 with a yellow card offence. However, it was good to see the sheer effort of the guys in trying to overcome their lack of experience, especially in the pack. The game ended with Birdie watching the boats in the bay and NYM trailing 20-8. Injuries have been unkind to NYM this spring, as well as the unavailability of some key players. However, this tough spring baptism of fire is seeing some promising youngsters cut their teeth. Team: 1. Ben Whitney, 2. Chris, 3. Arzie Zamarni (Pete Smith to 6, Angus Birchall to 8, Matt Beckley to 3), 4. Scott Crafton, 5. Cody Eckstein, 6. Angus Birchall (Manuel Saez), 7. Gabriel Fuoco, 8. Matt Beckley, 9. Ed Brydon, 10. Matt Smith, 11. Raphael di Guisto, 12. Duncan Heilbronn, 13. Brian Fitzgerald (capt), 14. Brian Eastman, 15. Richard Richardson. Man of the Match: Gabriel Fuoco, the tackling machine.

B-side W 24-10.
The B-side went out to enjoy themselves and duly made the guys on the sidelines a whole lot happier. They played some great stuff, keeping the ball alive whenever possible, as well as putting in some shuddering hits in defense. Although Newport were able to breach the defense and score a couple of times NYM, bolstered by some A-side guys playing in their second game of the day, took it to them. Scott Crafton ruled the lineouts until he was replaced at halftime pinching all of Newport’s throws. Ryan Hodson and Chris Finley led the backs in defense and offense with some strong hits and running. The standout moment came in the second half when NYM made a break down the right hand side. Bill Ezzo took the ball to the outside and slipped a pass back inside to the flying Chris Finley who took it all the way for the score. This put NYM up and they kept the pressure on with quick rugby. From one tap-and-kick a Newport player took exception to the chasing NYM. Handbags ensued and Matt Smith was dropped by a smart right to the mouth from a Chicken Hawk. He got to his feet though and was able to marshall NYM down to the Newport 22. Here, Manuel broke from a scrum, drew the fullback and gave the inside pass for Matt Smith to score under the posts. It was a great team effort. Team: 1. Nick “The Greek” Mastrogeorgiou, 2. Chris, 3. Arzie Zamarni (Tom “The Consumer” Ogden), 4. Scott Crafton (Pete Rizzo), 5. James Wallace, 6. Pete “Kermit” Smith, 7. John “Yee-ha” Yuhas, 8. Manuel “El Toro” Saez, 9. Josh “Super Mario” Yakatan (Brian “Metro East” Eastman), 10. Matt “Ops” Smith, 11. AJ Fautley (Luca “Barry” Loguercio), 12. Gabe, 13. Ryan Hodson, 14. Bill Ezzo, 15. Chris Finley. Man of the Match: Ryan Hodson, for his strong running and hard hitting in an impressive debut for NYM.