| Lawton, OK On a cool, mostly clear afternoon, a chippy 14-12 victory over Ft. Sill keeps DARC's TRU Championship hopes alive. The DARC pack dominated the setpieces, but hard tackling by the Gunner's and poor ball retention at the breakdown prevented the Knights from mounting a cohesive attack. Ft. Sill was on the board first with a quick counter attack when DARC mishandled a kick inside its defensive 22. Poor handling by the Gunner's allowed DARC to respond shortly when Gonzo took a quick ball off the back of a ruck and darted 60 meters through the Gunners' backline for a try between the posts. The converted try gave DARC the 7-5 advantage. DARC threatened again at the stroke of half-time with some excellent sniping and a pinpoint box kick by scrumhalf, Mark Wunsch. After a poor clearing effort, DARC earned a promising lineout position. Again hard tackling by the Army men, kept DARC from the touchdown. A bit too ambitious looking for the pushover, the Knights were unable to capitalize on three consecutive 5 meter scrums, and the whistle blew leaving DARC with the slim halftime margin. The second half opened with some excellent DARC pressure off the restart, but hard counter-attack running by the home team overloaded the DARC backline, and Ft. Sill was rewarded with a fantastic 60 meter converted try and the 12-5 advantage. DARC hit right back, with more pressure off of the restart earning a lineout just inside the attacking 22. Inside Center, Thomas Morgan took a crash ball, sidestepped his counter part, and beat the Gunners Back row and Fullback to the try zone to level the score. Mike Voss converted his second conversion to restore DARC's deuce lead, 14-12. Shortly after, more DARC pressure gained a 30 meter penalty shot which was narrowly missed to the left. The Gunners responded with some inspired strike running by their back row, forcing DARC into full retreat. The Knights would play defense for the final 15 minutes including an inspired tryline stand of their own. After a booming tryzone clearing kick by Fulback, Phillip Erickson, Ft. Sill countered quickly, again with punishing runs by their forwards, and earned a penalty 20 meters from goal just to the right of the posts. The kick was hooked and DARC was in the clear. A perfectly weighted 22 meter dropout followed by another superb Wunsch tactical bomb, and the Gunners were out of ammunition. Fulltime whistle, and another Victory for DARC, 14-12. (Tries - Gonzo, Morgan; Conversions Voss (2)) Mayon, J. Erickson, Rooney, Cavazos, Beynon, Lock, Ruiz, Mccure, Wunsch, Cook, Saife (Harvor), Morgan, de Charmoy, Voss, P. Erickson |
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DARC Wins Nailbiter in Lawtonposted Feb 29, 2008 10:21 AM by Steve Daniels |