Lions Nip Bombers

Saturday, March 04, 2006

 
The Chicago Lions defeated the St. Louis Bombers 27-19 in a preseason battle of Super League sides. Chicago looked the sharper side, coming off their two matches in California, cashing in when they had the opportunities. St. Louis manufactured the bulk of recycled ball, but failure to finish off what they started and excellent Lions tackling was the difference in the Bombers first run of the season.

St. Louis flyhalf Rene Monette narrowly missed a chip shot penalty kick three minutes into the match, an early indication of his side's fortunes. Lions halfback David Williams ducked under a tackle to open the scoring and his conversion put the Lions up 7-0 ten minutes into the match. Lions fullback Jeremiah Cowan turned a promising Bomber attack around as he countered from a chip-and chase and was rewarded with the try to push Chicago up 12-0.

Bomber speedster T.J. Ebner put St. Louis on the board at the 20th minute- a result of forwards Hayden Mexted and Scott Lay pounding the defense to set up the overload and draw the score to 12-5. A David Williams penalty kick closed the half with Chicago up 15-5.

The Lions put together their best sequence of attack of the day early in the second half, with wing Jeremy Nash going over in the corner to push Chicago out to 20-5. The battle in the centers proved to be very entertaining on the day. The Lions Eagle pairing of Scott Jones and Scott Peterson were tested often by Bomber centers Russell Gall and Brian Meyer- neither pair willing to give an inch. Bomber fullback Conail Boyd made several line breaks in the half- only to be stopped short of the line twice by excellent Lion's scrambling defense.

Lions flyhalf Josh Cocking darted over with 20 minutes to play to extend Chicago's lead to 27-5. But St. Louis kept the pressure on and were rewarded with a penalty try after a succession of Chicago professional fouls at the ruck. Monette's conversion brought the score to 27-12. Bomber center Brian Meyer made up for an earlier knock-on near Chicago's tryline by following up a Chris Welch burst down the sideline to dot down and draw St. Louis to within 27-19. But the stout Chicago defense held on in the closing stages to take home the victory over their Interstate 55 rivals.

The Bombers received strong performances from a couple new faces in the Black side lineup. Hooker Josh Witten and lock Brandon Hamburg both made big impacts in the tight five and around the pitch.

Both sides begin the RSL season on the road March 18, with Chicago traveling to Washington and St. Louis going to San Diego to face OMBAC.

The Bomber White side trotted out several newcomers in the day's second match and were no match for a Lion's B-side that contained two US Eagle players and several Midwest reps- going down 72-8. Flanker Josh Rainey scored the only Bomber try by following up a Scotty Giljum break after center Eric Hinson got St. Louis on the board with a penalty kick. Highlights for the Whites included the leadership of #8 Chad Tsitovich and the debuts of flyhalf Justin Mastrioanni, wings Jim Zenson and Justin Hawkins, fullback Adam Gottemoeller and locks Lucas Murillo and Nate Rowlan.

Spotted in the crowd cheering on the team were Bomber legends Sterling Hayden, Harley Meyer, John Kyle, Tom Scott, Chris Vogelsang, Ken Brigden and many more. The Bombers wish to thank Todd Phillips and Mrs. McCann from East Central College for the opportunity to promote the sport at the school's annual "International Festival" in Union, MO.

The Bombers will be in action next Saturday, March 11 when they face the Denver Highlanders at their new home pitch at Sportport in Maryland Heights at 1pm.