THE NOSE

 

SWEET SEPTEMBER FOR OLD GAELIC

 

The ninth month was kind to the Old Gaelic Rugby Club.  After an opening victory over Frederick, the Black and Gold sandwiched a bye with a pair of EPRU-III wins over Jersey Shore and PCOM.  October started with another bye, but the Griffins return to action this Saturday at Williams Grove to take on Wilkes-Barre as the only remaining undefeated team in the league.

 

On September 15^th, Jersey Shore made the trip to Pennsylvania and showed immediately that they had not come to serve as cannon fodder.  The Sharks got on top with a penalty kick and followed that with a try and conversion to take an early 10-0 over a shocked and overconfident Gaelic team (after all, this was the same team the Black and Gold defeated 43-0 after traveling with just 18 guys, right?)  Wrong.

The Gaelics responded to the deficit and got tries from Scott Lindsey (from Dan Roth) and Chris Botto to offset another Jersey three-pointer and drew the hosts within a point at the half, 13-12.

Roth converted his own try to start the second half and complete the comeback, putting the Griffs up for good, 19-13. Brian Ogle found freedom off a beautiful kick by Botto and Ken Ivey pounded one in to make it 31-13.  From there, the squads traded scoring bursts for the 43-25 final.  Lindsey (from Justin Stefanon) and Mark Olividetti (from Curtis Brillhart on a nifty eight-take) cashed in markers for Old Gaelic.

The “B” match featured an appearance by team chaplain and co-founder, Joe Patsy.  Alas, the Bees fell short, 12-10, despite tries by Ivey and Jeremy and assists by Ray Hollowell and Randy Smith.

 

Old Gaelic 43 – Jersey Shore 25

T:  Scott Lindsey 2, Chris Botto, Dan Roth, Brian Ogle, Ken Ivey, Mark Olividetti.

A:  Roth, Justin Stefanon, Curtis Brillhart

C:  Roth 3, Ogle.

 

“B”

T:  Ivey, Jeremy.

A:  Ray Hollowell, Randy Smith.

 

 

On September 29^th, Old Gaelic continued its five-match home stand against PCOM.  The Fighting Osteopaths proved no match for the Black and Gold and succumbed, 70-17.

There was no “B” game so minutes were spread around to maximum effect.

The last few minutes might have resembled garbage time, had Tony Dambro not emerged from the morass of mediocrity.  “Damn, Bro”, in his Old Gaelic debut, scored three tries in the waning moments to secure man-of-the-match and place his name in Gaelic lore.

PCOM wasn’t DOA, but Old Gaelic’s own physician, James Oliverio, M.D., made sure the Docs wouldn’t hang around when he picked up an errant pass and sprinted 50 meters to the try zone. That opened the floodgates and Alex Deigle, Chris Botto, Ken Ivey, Brian Ogle, Wes Beard, Scott Lindsey and Oliverio again all dotted down.  Mark Olividetti assisted on three of the assists and Lindsey and Travis Smith added dishes of their own.  Ogle and Matt Pomraning each had a pair of conversions as the Griffins raced to a 48-5 advantage at the intermission.

Curtis Brillhart (from Chris Speese) scored in the second half before Dambro’s hat trick (two assists by Pomraning and one by Chris Hall) and a Tunis two-pointer capped the scoring.

 

Old Gaelic 70 – PCOM 17

T:  Tony Dambro 3, James Oliverio 2, Alex Deigle, Chris Botto, Ken Ivey, Brian Ogle, Wes Beard, Scott Lindsey, Curtis Brillhart.