New England 79 - Met New York 3
New York State 87 - Met New York 0
New England 54 - New York State 10. Every player ran & supported as if his life depended on it. The 2 best running props seen for a long, long time (incl NZ) and their sophomore lock & Capt, a young, blond Californian 'Zin Zan Brooke', were outstanding and proved to be the main difference in the hard fought game.
The Northeast Rugby Union Collegiate Championships were held on 16/17 November at the University of Massachusaetts in Amherst. Eight teams from Division I and Division II teams from three local area unions in the Northeast participated.
In the First Division playoffs, Army, the perennial Met NY champion, had handled New England no. 3, Brown 44-10 to advance easily, while Dartmouth, the New England Champion, manhandled (72-3) a strong Canisius side, no. 3 in New York State. New York State had a strong first round showing when Cornell outscrummaged New England no. 2, Amherst, 35-12, and Buffalo dispatched Fordham, 33-12 on a slow, muddy, cold (hard handling) pitch.
Saturday morning in Amherst was very cold with the temperatures overnight in single digits. The fields were hard, but it was a sunny day to open the Finals. In the first match, Dartmouth faced Cornell who in their match last year had upset a heavily favored Dartmouth. It was clear that Dartmouth intended to take no prisoners.
DARTMOUTH 31- CORNELL 10. Captain Torbjorn Dimblad scored two tries to lead Dartmouth to a 31-10 win over Cornell in the Northeast Regional semi-final at UMass. The victory put the DRFC into the "Sweet Sixteen" in the Spring. Cornell scored first 9 minutes into the game. Cornell won a lineout 20 meters out, won several rucks and scored in the corner. The conversion missed and Cornell led 5-0. Dartmouth tied it at the 13 minute mark. Flyhalf Dimblad stole a long Cornell lineout at the Dartmouth 22. Dimblad juked, sidestepped, and finally outran the entire Cornell backline to score a brilliant 70 meter unconverted try to tie the score at 5-5. At 25 minutes, lock Pete Sisitsky won a Dartmouth lineout which led to a series of DRFC rucks. Scrumhalf Doug Burnaford finally broke weak and put Dimblad away. Pete Martin at #8 made the conversion to give Dartmouth a 12-5 lead. With 5 minutes left in the half, Dartmouth were penalized on their 5 meter line. The Cornell forwards powered across for the try. The conversion missed and Dartmouth led 12-10 at the interval. Prop Dan Thibeault took the Cornell kickoff at the restart and headed upfield. The DRFC kept the ball alive through about 10 rucks for the next two minutes. Outside center Craig Smith finally took a pass from
Martin and scored in the corner. The conversion was missed but Dartmouth now had a 17-10 lead. At the 65 minute mark, lock Drew Payne won a lineout and the DRFC forwards drove the maul 10 meters upfield. Burnaford then fed prop Thiebault on the burst for the try. Martin made the conversion to give the DRFC a 24-10 lead. At 75 minutes, the
DRFC forwards won another series of rucks. Scrumhalf Burnaford ran weak and fed winger Craig Whitmer who sprinted in for the score. Martin's conversion made it 31-10. The final whistle by A-panel referee Kevin Hanley put the DRFC through to the final.
ARMY 35 - BUFFALO 5. The semi-final between Army and Buffalo began with Army's characteristic long kick and pressure from their pack. Buffalo resisted and countered scoring easrly to take a 5-0 lead, but the inexorable Army team put up 35 unanswered ponts to claim the opportunity to face Dartmouth.
CORNELL 29 - BUFFALO 0. In a match that Buffalo clearly did not want to play, Cornell avenged the two earlier losses to SUNY-Buffalo by trouncing the Buffs soundly from the kickoff. The quicker Cornell halfbacks and a large powerful pack dominated almost all phases of the game and forced many errors on the part of Buffalo. With the win, Cornell won the third spot in the Northeast.
DARTMOUTH 29 - ARMY 10 (Ref: Kevin Eagar, PSRFR). On a beautiful fall afternoon, at UMass in Amherst, Dartmouth gradually overcame a bigger Army forward pack to run Army ragged, especially through the sublime evasive running skills of their Capt & flyhalf and the more direct hard-charging running of their big fullback. Army started by applying 10m of pressure to the Dartmouth goalline, but great defense and a reluctance by Army to use their backs, meant they only came away with a penalty 3-0. Surprisingly from this point the smaller Dartmouth pack started to get on top, winning better lineout ball and pushing Army back in the scrums. Dartmouth started to use this possession to run at Army in the backs, and only a spilt ball fwd in-goal denied Dartmouth a try. However, with 5m to go in the 1st half Dartmouth forced Army to concede a 5m scrum near the left 15m line. The flyhalf ran across field in front of his backline & the big fullback came back on the angle to go straight through under the bar untouched. Dartmouth 7-3 at half. Dartmouth proceeded to pressure Army sraight from the 2nd half kick-off, and at 50min, from a lineout 25m out, the Dartmouth flyhalf pulled the same move. This time, however, the big fullback ran dummy wide, & the outside ctre cut back straight under the bar untouched. Dartmouth 14-3. The next Dartmouth try resulted from pressure on a big kick ahead which the Army fullback dropped at his 22m back towards his goalline. Under pressure, instead of going down on it, he tried to kick it dead. 20m ingoals gave the fast following Dartmouth winger the opportunity to just dive & get one hand to the ball a foot from the deadball line. Good conv. from wide out - Dartmouth 21-3. To their credit Army came back at this point, almost scoring from rolling mauls twice. From a 5m scrum they finally spun it wide and although brought to the ground the Army wing was able to use his momentum to roll the final yard & plant the ball on the line. Another conv. from wideout. Dartmouth 21-10. Dartmouth applied pressure straight away, and when 2 tap penalties close to line where stopped, took an easy penalty shot with 10min remaining. Dartmouth 24-10. Army now had no option, but to run it from everywhere, but pressure on their flyhalf in-goal, who looked to run
before he attempted to kick for safety saw the ball charged down in-goal for Dartmouth to fall on it for the clinching score with 5min remaining. Conv unsuccessful 29-10. During the last 5min Army frustration set in, and they conceded 2 separate cautions and penalties for foul play, the 2nd a penalty reversal right under the Dartmouth posts. Dartmouth played the percentages & the touchlines for the last 2min and came away with a richly deserved victory & the North-East #1 seeding for the National Collegiate playoffs in the Spring.
So. Connecticut 27- Alfred - 12
Bates 24 - Binghamton 9
3rd Place Div. II
Alfred 37 - Binghamton 8
Championship Div. II
Southern Connecticut 27 - Bates 15
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