Over the weekend St. Louis hosted the 2017 Frontier League Championship for both DII and DIII. Mother nature decided to host her own event that brought record rainfall and storms throughout the Midwest all weekend.
The rain wasn’t so much the issue, lightening on the other hand was an issue and a lot of it.
The first matches were scheduled to start at 10am but were delayed because of the weather and eventually the Missouri Rugby Football Union decided to cancel all matches as there was no sign of the storm letting up. Unexpectedly the weather did let up and the MRFU took advantage of it to try and get the DII matches in before another outbreak.
The Bombers kicked off against the Denver Barbarians around 2:30pm. With the field more like a pond it would come down to who can hold onto the ball and keep their feet to win this match.
The rain did make it a little harder to tackle which resulted in big line breaks and eventually the first try by George Sullivan to put the Bombers on the board. The Bombers would lead 22-0 at half.
With reports of another wave of thunderstorm approaching both teams were eager to resume the match. The Bombers were playing well but when the rain started again the Barbarians were able score two tries with one conversion within 10 minutes of each other to cut the lead down to 10. The weather continued to worsen and with less than 15 minutes left the match was called citing safety due to lightning and with no end to the storm. The final score was Bombers 22, Barbarians 12 and the Bombers would face Glendale Raptors next.
f the match was a kicking duel as both teams tried to keep the ball out of their end. The majority of the first half was played closer to the Bombers end as Glendale kept control as best they could. Just before halftime the Bombers would get on the board with a penalty kick, leading 3-0.
Glendale continued to put pressure on the Bombers but the boys in black adjusted and started to move the ball down field, taking advantage of missed tackles and scoring the first try of the match. The Raptors kicked a successful PK to get on the board but that would be their only points as the Bombers would score three more tries with the final score 29-3.
With that win the St. Louis Bombers are the 2017 Frontier League Champions and will be heading to Tucson, AZ for the Elite 8. The Bombers will face the winner of Pacific South, either Ventura or Red Mountain Warthogs the weekend of May 20th.
The club has started an online fundraiser to help raise money to assist with travel and lodging costs.
St. Louis Bombers RFC Playoffs Campaign
Click Here to Donate!
The preferred method for donations would be to use the mobile app Venmo, search for @STLBombersRFC and send money with no fees. Checks and cash are always welcomed and we do accept credit cards & PayPal. All donations are tax-deductible and we thank you for all your help.
You must be logged in to post a comment.