Virginia Rugby Football Club (VRFC)

Virginia Rugby Football Club vs. Lehigh Valley Rugby Football Club
1:00 PM, Saturday, April 18th, 2009
Charlottesville, VA

The Virginia Rugby Football Club suffered its first loss of the 2008-09 season, losing to a determined Lehigh Valley side by a single point in their MARFU quarterfinal matchup. Virginia never trailed until five minutes from full time, when Lehigh kicked a penalty to steal the victory. Lehigh advances to face Harrisburg in the MARFU semifinals in Roanoke next weekend.

The first few minutes of the match were played conservatively as each team tried to size up the other, with a fair amount of kicking from both squads. In the tenth minute, Virginia was awarded a penalty kick in Lehigh's defensive half. Center James Fealey slotted the kick through the uprights to open the scoring and give Virginia a 3-0 lead. Lehigh struck back one minute later, however, with a penalty kick of their own to level the score.

As the first half progressed, Virginia started to take control of the match. Virginia's pack put on an impressive show, dominating the scrums, winning many of the lineouts, and generally helping open up the game for the backs. In the 30th minute, Virginia was awarded a lineout five meters from the Lehigh try zone. The ball was sent quickly to the backs, with Fealey running a switch back into the Lehigh defense. After a quick ruck, the ball was moved through the hands out to fullback Gary Larimer, who beat multiple Lehigh defenders to score in the corner. Fealey's difficult conversion attempt was unsuccessful, but the try gave Virginia an 8-3 lead.

A minute before half-time, Virginia fly half Evan Davis sent a kick deep into Lehigh's half. With Davis and center Johnny McNulty in pursuit, Lehigh's number 14 was forced to carry the ball into his own try zone and ground it, conceding a five-meter scrum to Virginia. Eight man Marc Breton picked the ball out of the scrum and drew in the Lehigh defense, freeing up room out wide. The ball made its way through the Virginia hands to wing Shawn Johnson, who dove for the try line and managed to touch the ball down as he was tackled. Fealey was faced with another difficult conversion, but this time his kick was successful. Virginia entered half-time with a 15-3 lead and looked to be running away with the game.

In the second half, the teams appeared to switch roles, with Virginia seemingly content to sit on its lead and Lehigh aggressively trying to come back from a 12 point deficit. Only eight minutes into the second half, Lehigh was awarded a penalty 18 meters from the Virginia line. The successful kick by the Lehigh fly half brought the score to 15-6. Lehigh immediately attacked on the ensuing kickoff, sending the ball out wide to their backs. After a number of broken/missed tackles, Virginia's defense managed to strip the ball. The loose ball, however, was recovered by a Lehigh player, who ran untouched into the Virginia try zone for the score. The conversion brought Lehigh to within two points at 15-13.

After watching their lead shrink by ten points in a matter of minutes, Virginia appeared to come back to life. They played the rest of the match with renewed intensity, mounting a number of impressive drives. Their best opportunity came with ten minutes to play when they were awarded a scrum five meters from the Lehigh try line. As they had throughout the second half, however, Lehigh once again kept Virginia out of the try zone.

With five minutes left to play, Lehigh was awarded a penalty 35 meters from Virginia's try line. The successful kick gave the visitors their first lead of the game at 15-16. The final minutes of the game were intense, with Virginia continuing to attack hard. Their efforts were too late, however, and the final whistle brought a heart-breaking end to Virginia's season.

Tries:
Gary Larimer
Shawn Johnson

Conversions:
James Fealey: 1/2

Penalties:
James Fealey: 1/1

Photos: