The Men traveled to NJ to take on D1 newcomers Morris on an overcast day. Morris didn't back down on their first game after promotion and were much more of a handfull than in the spring. However, once the early season rust had worn off NYRC were able to seal a win at the end.

The day started brightly enough, the rain was holding out, Morris' pitch in Denville looked pristine with well kept grass and nice full uprights. However, a late field switch meant that the team had to scramble to Morristown, which led to a hurried warm-up. Both teams found it hard to break each other down while also displaying some of the rustiness associated with the first game of a season. NYRC spent much of the time camped inside the Morris half but were unable to convert it into points except for two penalties; Morris players lying on the ball off their feet at the ruck both times.

The rain started to come down for the second half and it became a very similar affair, with the penalty count shifting in favor of Morris, who went 1/3 from penalty kicks to put the score at 6-3. NYRC had a mauled try disallowed by the ref due to the Morris side of the maul splintering and NYRC not moving the ball away from a "truck-and-trailer" situation. Going into the last 5 minutes NYRC had finally started to find their patterns and open up a bit of space. A lovely pass from flyhalf Matt Venzin found Danny Sonon who displayed his speed to burst through a tackle, leave another would-be tackler grasping at thin air, and round the fullback for an unconverted try. That gave the team the confidence to finish the match off. From another well set platform in the NYRC half center Walt Imo chipped the Morris defensive line, re-gathered his own kick to set a flowing move in motion that ended with a score in the right-hand corner.

The Developmental Squad had to battle the rain, soggy conditions, a bigger Morris pack and light numbers this week and did so admirably. Twice they came back from a score to put their own in before pulling away. In truth it could have been more had NYRC caught the last pass or not dropped the ball over the goalline 4 times in the second half. The front row served their time well with everyone getting meaningful game time there. Larry Remmel played his first full game in a long time, while Badger Denehy, Dave Griffiths, Ryan Juliano and Tim Antoian stepped in from the Senior side to make significant contributions. Badger Denehy in particular played a lot of rugby on the day and came away with two tries and two conversions for his efforts.

SENIOR SQUAD

New York 16 (06-00) 03 Morris ‘A’

Game MVP: Danny Sonon

30 Min 03-00 Penalty by Matt VENZIN
39 Min 06-00 Penalty by Matt VENZIN
Half Time 06-00
50 Min 06-03 Penalty by MORRIS RFC
75 Min 11-03 Try by Danny SONON
79 Min 16-03 Try by Darcy BOWDEN
Full Time 16-3

Scorers

VENZIN, Matt 6 points (2 Penalties)
SONON, Danny 5 Points (1 Try)
BOWDEN, Darcy 5 points (1 Try)

01 SONON, Danny
02 LEE, Mick
03 TYLER, Brian
04 LAYFIELD, Dan
05 MEYERS, Lucas
06 McNEILL, Mike
07 CUSH-FAUTLEY, AJ
08 CAPALDI, Chris
09 BRYDON, Ed
10 VENZIN, Matt (c)
11 VEGA, Ollie
12 IMO, Walt
13 DENEHY, Badger
14 JULIANO, Ryan
15 ANTOIAN, Tim

- Reserves-Played -
16 BOWDEN, Darcy (60' for JULIANO)
19 DANAHY, Sean (20' for MEYERS)
20 GRIFFITHS, David (50' for TYLER)

DEVELOPMENTAL SQUAD

New York 24 (24-10) 10 Morris ‘B’

Game MVP: Badger Denehy

00-50 Try by MORRIS RFC
07-05 Try by Darcy BOWDEN, Converted by Badger DENEHY
07-10 Try by MORRIS RFC
14-10 Try by Badger DENEHY, Converted by Badger DENEHY
19-10 Try by Darcy BOWDEN
24-10 Try by Badger DENEHY
Half Time 24-10
Full Time 24-10

Scorers
DENEHY, Badger 14 points (2 Tries and 2 Conversions)
BOWDEN, Darcy 10 points (2 Tries)

01 GRIFFITHS, David
02 MASTROGEORGIOU, Nick
03 PEREZ-FOX, Scott
04 O'LEARY, Chris
05 REMMEL, Larry
06 O'BRIEN, John
07 RAKOV, Nick
08 DIDER, Sebastien
09 Von BORSIG, Mike (c)
10 JULIANO, Ryan
11 CECIL, Saad
12 BOWDEN, Darcy
13 McCUE, Ryan
14 STERLING, Andrew
15 DENEHY, Badger

- Reserves-Played for NYRC -
40' PEREZ-FOX to 6, O'BRIEN to 3.
SCHMALTZ, John (40' for GRIFFITHS)
ANTOIAN Tim (40' for BOWDEN; ANTOIAN to 10, JULIANO to 12)
LANZARA, Josh (50' for DENEHY; LANZARA to 2, MASTROGEORGIOU to 6, PEREZ-FOX to 8, DIDER to 13, McCUE to 15)