Griffins Rugby v Dallas Diablos

The first home cup game for the Griffins took place yesterday at the game fields at Stonebriar Community Church in Frisco. The club’s temporary home provided a great location for a surprisingly physical contest between Griffins and The Dallas Diablos and despite the cold weather, the fans turned out in decent numbers on both sides.

From the kick off it was apparent that both teams have improved greatly since last season and with a little guidance from referee John Shafto, the game developed into a fierce contest with the occasional scuffle and several early penalties. Both teams played aggressively, putting in some vicious tackling, but it was the size of The Griffins’ forwards which enabled them to break the deadlock and score first.

From then on, the game began to take shape, with both teams apparently playing within a distinct game plan. The Diablos worked hard to get the ball to their powerful inside center, attempting to break the gain line and follow up with quick ball out wide, while The Griffins overpowered in the forwards, followed by a varied attack involving all positions.

First half tries from Travis Bailey, Trey VonAhnen, Dave Meacham and Phil Camm showed that The Griffins can score from anywhere when on form, and with a little more discipline and control, will prove a much more difficult opponent than last year.

The second half had patches of poor play by The Griffins which allowed the visitors to score a couple of soft tries. Not to take anything away from the Dallas team, who ran hard and showed great support running in the backs, but it was perhaps more the lack of concentration by the home team which was responsible for seeing The Diablos come back into the game.

After a few worrisome moments however, The Griffins charged ahead once more and added four more tries to their first half total, including a crowd favorite interception by Rama Mohtadi, in which he intelligently stole the ball from a wayward Dallas pass, rounded the fullback and sprinted, untouched over the try-line for his first 5 points of the season.

Other second half tries were scored by Mike Margraff, Chris Heiser and finally, seconds before the final whistle, Kyle Lail.

With the exception of a 15 minute period in the second half, The Griffins had good control throughout the game and were definitely the stronger team, but The Diablos are certainly on the up and as they improve, will push other teams in the division to play better.

For Frisco’s newest sporting team however, Saturday was a great result and demonstrated the continued development of strong club. The Griffins are recruiting new players, social members and supporters every week and their efforts are realized on and off the field.

Final Score: Griffins Rugby 48 – 17 Dallas Diablos
Tries: Meacham, VonAhnen, Bailey, Camm, Margraff, Heiser, Mohtadi and Lail
Conversions: Camm (4)
Man-of-the-Match: Dave Meacham

SPEACIAL NOTE: Griffins Rugby would like to say a special thank you to:

Stonebriar Community Church for allowing us to use their fields and bring a great game of rugby to the Frisco community.

Dave Meacham and Kerry Williams and all the people who worked hard into Friday night, without whom the game field would not have been ready to use.

Jeff Walton, the Griffins Club President for securing the arrangement with Stonebriar Community Church and his constant hard work on behalf of the club.

The staff at Third Base Sports Bar and Grill, especially Rob and Greg, for their support and dedication to Griffins Rugby.

Without supporters like these, Griffins Rugby could not be the great success it is in only its second year. If you would like to help support the club, please contact Phil Camm, Club Director, at phil_c@griffinsrugby.com.

North Texas Griffins Rugby is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization based in Frisco, Texas, and as such, all donations are tax deductible to the extent allowable by law.
http://www.griffinsrugby.com/