Back Bay vs. Santa Monica Game Notes (2/5/11)

Written by Carlos Jovel Jr

After two weeks of being on the road, Back Bay returned to their picturesque pitch near the Balboa pier to take on Santa Monica. Again the weather did not disappoint as it was a perfect sunny day for some rugby.

From the start of the match it looked as if both side were evenly matched. Santa Monica pressured early in the match forcing a few mistakes by the Sharks but had nothing to show for it. After a penalty, Back Bay was able to get within the 22 of the visitors and looked to build towards a score. An unfortunate turn over by the home team saw Santa Monica’s winger chasing down a grubber kick by their fly-half and scored in under the posts to open the scoring in the game. Back Bay was able to maintain their composure and from the kick off began putting pressure on the visiting team. Late in the half a Santa Monica player was sent to the sin bin for multiple infractions, leaving the visitors with 14 players but to Santa Monica’s credit their defense was up for the challenge and turned away all that was thrown at them by the Sharks. At the end Back Bay was only able to come away with a penalty kick taken by Sebastian Pedreira. At the half the score was Santa Monica 7 – Back Bay 3.

The second half began with Back Bay controlling early. The Sharks forward pack used their one player advantage to maul their way into the try zone. New comer Will Kennedy made his debut with a try to make the score 10-7 in favor of the Sharks. The game continued and Santa Monica seemed to wake up after the score and with their sin bin player on the pitch they started to take control of the match. Back Bay was pinned down inside their 22 meter line for about five minutes until Santa Monica finally broke through and got it down for their second try of the game. Santa Monica had regained the lead 14-10; this was a lead they would not give up again. The Sharks began to lose their discipline and after a bad tackle on Santa Monica’s fly-half, they were left with 14 players. After that it was all Santa Monica as they ran in a couple of more tries and a penalty kick. Santa Monica had scored 31 points in the last 20 minutes of the match to beat the Sharks 38-10. made his debut with a try to make the score 10-7 in favor of the Sharks. The game continued and Santa Monica seemed to wake up after the score and with their sin bin player on the pitch they started to take control of the match. Back Bay was pinned down inside their 22 meter line for about five minutes until Santa Monica finally broke through and got it down for their second try of the game. Santa Monica had regained the lead 14-10; this was a lead they would not give up again. The Sharks began to lose their discipline and after a bad tackle on Santa Monica’s fly-half, they were left with 14 players. After that it was all Santa Monica as they ran in a couple of more tries and a penalty kick. Santa Monica had scored 31 points in the last 20 minutes of the match to beat the Sharks 38-10.

Back Bay had played well for 60 minutes but their fitness and discipline let them down the last 20 minutes of the match. Santa Monica showed why it is never a good idea to give a good team too many opportunities, as they showed why they continue to be a quality rugby club in Southern California.

On an other note, Back Bay second side had their modest two game winning streak come to an end, as they lost 56-15 to Santa Monica’s second side. Back Bay will now look forward to getting healthy, and enjoy the bye weekend and taking in some top notch rugby in Las Vegas. We will see you at the USA 7’s from Las Vegas.

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