Bombers Win Big in Season Opener

August 25, 2007 - Chicago, IL

The St. Louis Bombers ran in seven tries to post a 39-0 win over the Chicago Westside Condors on a water logged pitch in Lemont, IL. Five of the seven tries were scored by new players on debut for the Bombers. The Bombers traveled with a large contingency as they stayed over and took in the USA v Munster match on Sunday.

The first half was played in the middle of the pitch and featured good defense from both teams. Bomber wing Oscar Iglesias scampered in to open the scoring ten minutes in, and added his second from nice passing from flyhalf Justin Mastroianni and prop Tim Basler. Mastroianni's conversion gave St. Louis a 12-0 halftime lead.

New Bomber prop Tim Basler, nephew of Bomber legend Vic Miller, got his first-ever Bomber try five minutes into the second half to push the men in black up 17-0. Mastroianni darted through a gap to score, followed closely by a long range try from Basler to give St. Louis a 27-0 lead with fifteen minutes to play.

Speedy wing Chris Welch dotted down after timely passing from centers Joe Mertz and TJ Ebner to push the lead to 34-0. Debutant Nic Clark came on as a reserve and promptly finished off a nice blindside attack to close the scoring at 39-0.

The forwards set the table for the win with an impressive display in the primary phase and at the tackle. Flankers Brandon Hamburg and Alex McPheeters, locks John McGuire and Phil Reed and hooker Josh Witten put in a ton of work on a day best suited for the pack.

The White side was filled with many new, young faces and put on a strong display before getting nipped 17-14 in the final moments. Matt Viox, Face Loftquist and Vinnie Wroughton were strong up front, and Kingpin Gunnell, Sam Stahnke and Ben Schwab played well on both sides of the ball.

Eighteen year-old center Nick Godfrey split the Condor defense for the try of the match- a 50 meter scamper to put his team in the lead, but the Whites came up a little short in this one. Wing Chris Wilson made his debut in the Bomber jersey and had a solid match. Another 18 year-old, Jahan Ashfaq, made his debut at prop in the second spell and showed glimpses of the Big O- another memorable big man of years past. Zach Giljum was pressed into duty at fullback and put in a strong effort. Cole from Cape Girardeau booted up and came on as an injury sub and made a big impact in the match.