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Knoxille 26 Triad 17
September 14, 2007
It was a sunny Saturday as the possum faithful travelled over to Greensboro to take on the dogs of Triad. I guess the combination of distance and UT home game didn’t help our numbers any, and we only travelled with fifteen players … plus coach/wing/medic/waterboy/kicking tee carrier/linesman. And we were fortunate enough to have the assistance of old boy Buck Rogers to tape us in action … for better or worse. The squad that travelled included some new faces to the club but everyone played to the best of their ability/fitness level at this point in the season and I was well pleased.
The squad included Rise-up, Rooster, Dars, Jay, Tanner S., Big Wayne, Hawke, Noss, Rick James, Ingle, Reggie, Shanks, Luke, Raf and Rob. No reserves, no problems for these guys. Even when Rick had his nose broken in a friendly fire incident with Wayne (nice going!) he only came off the field long enough to stop the bleeding and went straight back on. Fortunately Raf was able to cover at scrummy for a couple of minutes and I went and lounged out on the wing … safe in the knowledge that I would never see the ball, at least from our backline 
It was miserably hot and thank the good Lord that the ref saw fit to give us water breaks every twenty minutes otherwise I doubt we would’ve gone the distance. As it was the boys played a full 80 minutes, with the last twenty minutes being all heart. As coach, I couldn’t have been any prouder of the commitment these guys showed to each other by keeping those legs pumping long after the gas tanks were empty. My hat’s off to you, one and all!!
In the end, after some confused defence and missed opportunites the Possums deserved their come-from-behind victory 26-17. Our continuity needs some work but it was encouraging to see guys getting there to support so that we had 3-4 passes going forward before play broke down and the defence had a chance to organize against us. The try that Raf set up and Ingle finished was a prime example … nice job!
We have a lot to work on (as always, otherwise I’m out of a job) but nothing that I feel is beyond us and so we’ll only get better from here … as long as we can keep guys coming out to practice and showing up at games!!!
Congrats to our try scorers – Big Wayne C (1), No-pass Noss (1) and Adam Ingle (2). Luke had a big day with the boot slotting 3/4 conversions, including a couple from way out wide. I’m glad I wasn’t betting beers against him!
Man of the match awards would be a dead heat between Wayne, for being everywhere, and Raf, for always trying to make something out of nothing. Purple hearts go to Rick, who didn’t let a broken nose slow him down, and Rise-up, who kept playing long after his body and lungs had quit on him … way to tough it out guys!
Big thanks to Triad for the game and taking care of us after the match. We’ll look forward to seeing you guys next fall.
Keep coming to practice guys and let’s get it done in Dayton this weekend.
Love and sloppy kisses,
Pete the C.
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