Solid defense in round three of USA Rugby Super League championship

LEt me first let you know that the winners in the third round were Philadelphia-Whitemarsh, Denver, PAC, Aspen, Dallas Harlequins, Kansas City Blues, and Belmont Shore. Now, lets break them down.

In a Red Conference matchup, Philadelphia-Whitemarsh upended Boston 31-22. On a cold, but dry day in Pennsylvania, Philly scored five tries to three to secure not only the win, but a valuable bonus point. The home team jumped out first with two early tries and was never headed. Philly's ex-Eagle prop George Sucher was among the stars scoring two tries on the day.

Further north, the New York Athletic Club hosted the Denver Barbarians and again NYAC came up a bit short with Denver pulling out a close 15-12 victory. It was two tries apiece, the difference being a penalty goal by Barbos' flyhalf Jason Kelly. Denver's ex-Eagle Andre Bachelet got the ball rolling with the first try, followed by another to Leon Neville. NYAC's tries were scored by Mick Mulvihill and Mike Lugano, while fullback Aidan Mara added a conversion.

"It was very tight," said Denver's Justin Clark. "NYAC played tough and penalties almost lost it for us. The forwards were even, but our backs lifted us past them."

In Atlanta, Life University was trying to get back into the winner's circle, but ran into a buzzsaw in the form of the Gentlemen of Aspen. The Gents, playing their first game of the season, blew past Life 47-10, racing in for six tries to Life's one.

Aspen flyhalf Mark Williams said the team was going crazy waiting to start the season, "We're not getting carried away, it's only our first game. The ball bounced our way, but we have a lot to improve on."

"It was a disappointing loss," noted Life coach Mel Smith. "We have a number of new people, so it'll take a bit of time."

In the windy city, the Chicago Lions met the Potomac Athletic Club head on in a matchup of White Conference rivals and it was PAC who triumphed 28-21. Star of the show was PAC kicker Mike Fabling who amassed a personal haul of 18 points.

"It was a very physical game," said PAC's Tom Lyons. "We're very happy to nab a win on the road against a very good Lions team."

Lions spokesperson Tony Rio gave props to the opposition, "PAC played an excellent game. They played their game plan and the better team won on the day."

Down in Texas, the Dallas Harlequins thumped Olympic Club Blues 50-19. The Quins crossed for seven tries against three to the visitors. Both John Hickey and Janse van Rensburg scored a brace for Dallas, while David Care, Nick Cairns and Scott Schmidt all chimed in with one each. Matt Alexander kicked three penalties and three conversions for 15 points.

Harlequins coach Mark McCloy said the game was played in awful conditions, "It was rainy and muddy, but I thought our guys played well. We scored from the opening kickoff, so I'm pretty excited that our club played so well in such sloppy conditions."

Up in Seattle, Old Puget Sound Beach and the Kansas City Blues turned on a high scoring encounter with the visitors winning 40-20. Seven tries to four was the story with Josh Ockleson and Mike Skahan each scoring twice for the Blues. OPSB president Peter Bolton said Beach felt they had a chance going into the match, "We never really got off the mark and that was disappointing."

And in Los Angeles, Belmont Shore won the battle of California downing San Francisco Golden Gate 22-16. In a one try apiece struggle, the difference was the boot of Shore flyhalf Mike Hercus who calmly slotted five penalties and a conversion for a total of 17 points. His SFGG counterpart Grant Wells booted three penalty goals and one conversion.

"We made it hard for ourselves with some silly mistakes and a lack of discipline," said Shore's player/coach Matt Webber. "We were lucky though, the boys dug deep and held out, but all credit to Golden Gate, they really stuck to it right to the death."

SFGG director of coaching Richard Leslie thought it was very even, "I think both teams are very good and they played a very high level of rugby, probably more so than I've seen in the years I've been here."