Lions Tamed in St. Louis

Saturday, March 12, 2005

 
The pitch in Forest Park was unusually hard and fast for early March, and so was the rugby. The I-55 rivals Chicago Lions and St. Louis Bombers combined for 55 points as St. Louis held on at the end for a thrilling 29-26 victory. The Bombers scored five tries to the Lions four, as both teams were willing to move the ball through the hands whenever possible.

The Lions opened the scoring as wing James Nakaan finished off a long Scott Peterson break through the midfield. Bomber fullback Conail Boyd then made a rare play by charging down scrumhalf Dave Williams' conversion attempt. This seemed to inspire St. Louis as they churned their way down the park. Prop Scott "Bowling Ball" Lay pounded across the line to give the Bombers a 7-5 lead. But Lion's center Scott Jones answered by scooping up a bobbled ball from a Bomber backline attack and racing 40 meters untouched to regain the lead for the Lions 12-7. Conail Boyd replied immediately for St. Louis as he sliced through the Lions midfield on a well rehearsed backline move and outpaced the defenders to tie the match at 12-12. The Lions put together a multitude of phases just before halftime and Scott Peterson's converted try gave Chicago a 19-12 lead at the break.

St. Louis laid claim to the match by scoring the next 17 points in the second spell. The Bomber backline stepped up to notch three brilliant tries. The first came to wing Justin Gillenwater, the result of some nifty handling between flyhalf Rene Monette and Conail Boyd in tight space. Bomber wing T.J. Ebner then scored the try of the match as St. Louis adventurously spun the ball from inside their own 22 meter line and Ebner raced 80 meters to put St. Louis ahead for good, 24-19. Minutes later, Bomber center Russell Gall capitalized on a Lion's handling miscue as he snared the ball on the full run and put Gillenwater away for his second try of the day. A late try by prop Chad Slaby invigorated the Lions, but the comeback was not to be as St. Louis was able to secure their own lineout throw and clear the ball on the final play to come out victorious 29-26.

Lion's coach Marty Wiggins commented: "This rivalry always produces great matches. It's never easy for either side. It's exactly the kind of match we need going into the super league season. The Bombers are an excellent side and they should do well in the D-1 competition this year."

The Lions also showed a touch of class at the after match by making a large donation to the Dan Hartwig Memorial Scholarship Fund, in honor of the young Bomber hooker who tragically lost his life in a car accident last summer at the age of 23.

The Lions B's swamped the Bomber white side 68-7 in the second match. The Lions paraded several Midwest representative players onto the park and the young Bomber forwards were in over their heads. Lions' backs, Lance Houia and Josh Cocking feasted upon the wealth of possession generated by the powerful forwards, led up front by Chad Slaby and Chris Brankin. For St. Louis, lock Corey Gunnell stepped up to play his first match at prop, and #8 Zach Giljum, flanker J.P. Shen, and centers Brian Harthill and Eric Hinson stood out in the tackle count.

Spotted on the sidelines, many wearing their woolen Bomber jackets from the '60s, were several legends from the past. Seen were: "Big Earl" Langhorst (looking not so big- down 31 pounds), the Von Der Har brothers- Al and Ron, Lenny Gall, Bobby Muckler, Terry Swap, Tom Holmes, Tom Rolfe, Sterling Hayden, Harley Meyer, John Kyle, Dave Stofer, Ryan Colombo, Bob Jones and many more. The club would like to thank Colombo's Tavern for once again providing the excellent food, drink and atmosphere at the after match, and Brian Dix for his generosity.

Line-ups:

Black Side:
Lay, S.
Hess
McBride (Dix)
Mexted (Shen)
McGuire
McPheeters
Tegethoff (Z. Giljum)
Reed
Wong (Lay, B.)
Monette
Gall
Meyer
Ebner
Gillenwater
Boyd

White Side:
Gunnell
Chambliss
Adank (Dix)
Mingala (Hoke)
Entwistle
Hoffmann (Domian)
Shen (Milton)
Giljum, Z.
Nico (Wong)
Ruzicka
Hinson (Scott)
Harthill (Moyer)
Crutchfield
Bosse
Nardin