Morris Lions U19s Blog

Morris Lions win the Jersey Cup

Very proud of our boys! the Morris Lions played 4 tough and close matches against Montclair, Doylestown PA, South Jersey including facing Morris 2 aka Delbarton in the final.

The final was especially hard fought. Delbarton scored first and converted. Morris ten came back with a try by Sebastian and a penalty by Sebastian to be up 8-7 at the half. The second half was even tougher. Garrett then broke through for a well-earned try that Sebastian converted. Final score Morris Lions 15- Delbarton 7.

Morris Lions U19s beat Parsipanny 67-0

Tries from lots of guys! 2 each from Cap, Matt T, Sean. Additional tries from Smokie, Garrett, Jeremy and Tyler T. Sorry if I missed anyone. Match photos from Mr Hickey below. You can see the lot here. They are awesome!

Morris Lions U19s First League Win - A and B Team beat LIRFC

Morris U19s beat a very shouty and sweary LIRFC. The A team won 10-0 with a try from Jack Little, a penalty and superb convo by Luke Hickey. B team won too by 14-0 with tries by Andies Sweet and Goodfellow with brilliant conversions by Smokie and Sebastian.

Here are the match highlights.

Morris Lions U19s 31 - Keio College 21

The U19s had their first serious scrimmage today and won a hard fought victory over Keio. Thanks to all the folks at Keio for being great hosts.

 

All,

There are many reasons why I have taken the path of rugby over other sports, as well as my desire to channel my passion for the sport to the U19 program.  Over the years we have had our share of success and for the lack of a better term, "down" years.  But through it all, year after year, we forge ahead believing in what we are doing. What we did yesterday, playing at Keio is one of the big reasons I have continued.  Not because we had success against Keio, but because of the outcome of the 3rd period.  Below you will find a wonderful note from the coach of Keio, Mr. Tomonori Inugai, a man with a similar passion and love of the game for all it's good reasons. 

To those boys and parents that made the trip to Keio yesterday, thank you.  Thank you for representing our club in such a positive way, thank you for "Protecting the Legacy" of the Morris Lions.  We should all be proud of the fact that we showed through a simple jesture of playing a combinded perior that rugby is a world sport and even if we don't speak the same language outside of the lines, inside the lines, the universal language is the game itself.

I am proud to say that I am part of something that shows the good about rugby and the Lions, when we receive such compliments as below.

Regards,
Coach John

 
====================================

John,

Good morning.

I'd like to thank you of coming over Keio yesterday.
It was great pleasure to have game with your team.

Yesterday Keio lost, but keio improved much better than last time. So I'm relieved.
In the third match, we had a mixed team game. Keio students were really having a good time with your players. I enjoyed watching that they were playing together with smiles.
I really appriciate it.

I hope Morris have a great season in this year.

Thank you,

Tomonori Inugai

Harvey Match Summary

A Team won 38-0. B Team won 7-5

Here is a match report from Coach John:

This past Sunday, the Lions exhibited a comprehensive and clinical display of rugby played as a team not seen in a few years. Not since we traveled to Charlotte in 2006,  when we completely overmatched and outclassed 3 teams, or our 2nd half dismantling of Parsippany last year, have I seen such a display of team oriented rugby. We have all witnessed matches were individuals shined, taking over a match with their stellar performances, but rarely has a Lions team had such a performance as a group.

 

There was very little that erred during the match, other than some decisions regarding penalty kicks in the first half, for which they were fortunate that didn't come back to haunt them.  With 90% possession in the first half, only once stepping back into their half of the pitch, the Lions were able to finally penetrate Harvey's solid defense to score 2 tries, one by Jeremy Latriano after a feed by Ryan Ritchie and another by Matt Turinas, slicing through the Harvey defense, with a conversion by Ryan Ritchie, a reward for ball control, effective rucking and timely tackling.  With the sure handed catching of Andrew Goodhand, we won all of our lineout ball, disrupting a percentage of theirs.  We surprisingly won most of our scrums, putting theirs under constant pressure.  I say surprisingly because we have not spent much time on scrummaging and their performance was a very pleasant compliment to the day.   

 

Then came the 2nd half when the Lions could have easily sat back, even relaxed enough to allow Harvey to mount a come back.  At the end of the 1st half, it was still anyone's match, even with being up 12 points to nil.  But again, the Lions kept the pressure on, offloading, passing, tackling, supporting.  Outstanding tackling on the wing by Dan Sweet, a positive effort by rookie Garrett Lally along with the return of Jeicol Herrera, combined with the overall performance of the forwards, helped to keep Harvey at bay.  Lineouts continued to be effective and the scrummaging skill became such an issue for the referee that at one point, considered uncontested scrums. With continued support of the ball carrier, coupled with some nice individual runs cutting through the defense, we were able to put across 4 more tries and 3 conversions, all the while keeping Harvey out of the try zone for the entire match.  Each try scored in the 2nd half, one by Jack Little, Blaze Feury with 2 and Cap Huizenga with the last, just brought greater frustration by the Harvey side.  Coupled with Ryan Ritchie's 3 of 4 conversions, well, the performance was complete, the statement achieved.

 

Scores and Scorers from MetUnion

Morris 14  -  2 tries, both by Cohen with 2 conversions by Ritchie
LI - 27

Morris B's  -  26  -  4 tries, Feury, Black, Auriemma (2), with 3 conversions by Feury
Union/Parsippany B's - 15

Morris - 0
Parsippany - 0

Match Round-ups

I have been delinquent lately in reporting the scores so here goes. The A side completed the regular season with a 100% record. They beat everyone in the regular season, winning 4 matches regular matches plus a match against White Plains that didn''t count.

In the most recent matches, the A side beat Darien 33-0 and then beat Parsipanny 32-12, coming back from a 10-12 deficit at the half. The match against CT Yankees is off as the team folded.

The final league tables aren't published yet but it looks like we will be on top with a 158 point deficit.

Next up is the MetUnion Championship at Pocono Filed on May 10th where we are top-seeded blue team.

The B's and U15s had some great outings too, playing their hearts out in three matches against A sides at the Big Apple Tournament and a hard fought match against Parsipanny Bs.

More info on MetUnion Tournament to follow

Match Photos

Mr Hickey, took some great photos from both St Peter's and Darien Matches, which you can find here. In addition over on the right are JoAnn's pics from St Peter's match

Congrats on the wins guys. Anyone got a match report

Scores From NYRFC Matches

A-side - 38-7  Tries, Teddy Bowers (2), Elliott Tennick (2), Matt Turinas (2),  Conv. Hickey (2), Ritchie (2)

B-side - 27-20.. B-side tries - Shultz (1), Herrera (1).. then 2nd half was U15's .. I don't know who scored.. Pretty sure Smokie Storz got at least one

Lions A 79 - Kingston 5; Lions B 19 - Kingston 0

Two cracking games against spirited opposition from Kingston RFC. In the A game tries by Matt Turinas, Big Elliot, Jesus, Carson, Sean Black with braces by Luke Hickey with 7 conversions and hat tricks by Mr Teddy Bowers and Kevin Corley.

Apologies if I missed anyone, just email me.

In the second game, tries by Sean Black, Jesus and Charles Taylor. Ryan Richie converted twice.

Next week in Brooklyn!