This Time The Gas Company Pays

15/01/06

TGRFC 28 v Idemitsu Oil 10

at Anegaski in the middle of an oil refinery

In a turnaround on recent current events it was the Idemitsu team that would end the day in the red, as they failed to match the increase in points that TGRFC community action force managed to put on the board.

It was a long trip for some out to Anegasaki in the middle of godforsaken dog rape Chiba.  Some of the team members were up at the crack of dawn along with the service station attendants just to be at the meeting place on time.

It was an under-prepared team that would play the game after a long Christmas break where the team did their utmost to destroy any physical conditioning that could possibly have built up in the weeks leading in to Christmas.  It was to prove quite visible in the next 60 minutes that the team was not really up to playing 80.

A slow start on a wet field saw the game start pretty ordinarily for both teams.  There was more dropped balls than gas price rises that day and this made for a sorry spectacle for about the first 10 minutes.  A couple of promising attacks were snuffed out by the Idemitsu team and after some pressure in our quarter they eventually scored the first points of the game.  It was a lineout close to the TGRFC line that the home team was lucky to win on their own throw, that saw them push over for a try against a team that couldn?t pack low enough after almost snaffling an opposition throw.

This was the ignition that the team needed as they turned the key to their game and the engine began to fire. Good work in the loose by Sean O?Donoghue after he pounced on a ball from a strong Gaijin scrum and then handed off to a scorching Ian Roy who displayed a little gas of his own to touch down under the posts. Roy then drilled the goal for a 7 ? 5 lead.

Good work in the lineout throwing department from Chris Lucas meant that he gets a mention in this article. Well done Chap. You?re an inspiration to us all.

Before the break open-side Flanker Dave Kelver managed to drill their stand-off into the ground and remind him in no uncertain terms that we were a team that could not be fooled with fancy footwork, which he had tried to do on many occasions.

Halftime had the team up 7 ? 5 but needing some more energy in a time of crisis.  The call was that TGRFC was too slow, and too high much like the gas in todays markets.

After the Break the 16 man opposition conjured up a try. After being clearly short after the tackle one of Idemitsu`s outside backs then crawled another metre for the try. The referee in his infinite wisdom awarded this much to the exasperation of the TGRFC players and support staff. In defense of the referee it has to be pointed out that he is a fine man and is in no way biased. He is just old and lacks knowledge of the rule changes in the years since a try was made 5 points.

This meant that they were in the lead again and the TGRFC were having to reach deeper for their own energy sources than the United States. 

A few minutes after the kickoff play was deep in the Idemitsu half. Pressure from the scrum meant they were going backwards and after some harem-scarem passing they threw the ball in-goal and then managed to kick it out. The man with the whistle blew for a 22m restart. What? That?s a 5m scrum for us. Joffa Harris kindly pointed this out and in a surprise to all he overturned his decision. From this scrum the team formed a solid maul and pushed over for a slick try. But wait. The referee blew it up because he decided momentum had stopped. When was the question? He then incorrectly decided to give us another scrum, which should have been Idemitsu`s ball if he judged momentum had stopped. However the scrum was packed and half-back Takeshi Takada eventually threw a big dummy and glided over for a try that should have been in the books about 4 minutes earlier. Ian Roy converted for a 14 – 10 lead.

It was in an effort to simplify decisions for the referee that the next try was scored under the posts after a huge blindside run from Ian Roy.  It was converted and the TGRFC could rest a little more comfortably with a 21 ? 10 lead.

The final try of the day went to Dave Kelver dotting down in the corner moments from the final whistle to cap the day off with another try for the forward pack to compliment what had been a day of pretty good work in the wet conditions.  The only blemish was that Roy would have to convert this from the sideline to retain his 100% kicking record.  He failed to do this again and took goat of the day for his troubles.  This could have been helped had he not taken advice from certain sideline members to attempt it with his eyes shut.  But to his credit the referee then capped off the day by not realizing the kick was about five metres to the left of the upright and gave us the goal and the final 28 ? 10 scoreline we desired anyway.  Good on Ya.

Player of the Day ? Shaunne Hughes.  He had a good day in the lineouts and was again a standout member of the tight five that is becoming such a close knit unit.  He even promised the coach after the game that if he was trialed in other positions he could still excel.

Thanks to all the helpers who came along and the spectators for the time they continue to give to our team. 

Man of the Match: 3 – Shaunne Hughes , 2 – Ian Roy , 1- Dave Kelver 

Team:

1.   Mark Pearson (USA)

2.   Chris Lucas (Australia)

3.   Mauro Sauco (Argentina)

4.   Shaunne Hughes (Australia)

5. Arthur Strang (England)

6. Sean O`Donoghue (Ireland)

7. Dave Kelver (USA)

8. Jesse Takahashi (USA)

9. Takeshi Takada (Japan)

10. Ian Roy (England)

11. Jo Iwasaki (Japan)

12. Niall Conlon (England)

13. Tomoaki Nakajima (Japan)

14. So Nagashima (Japan)

15. Jonathon Dean (Canada)

Reserves: (16) Murray Clarke (NZ),  (17) Joffa Harris (Australia),

         (18) Yasuyuki?Garcia? Tokumitsu (Japan),  (19) Ryouichi Matsumura (Japan)