Perhaps the nicest overall day of the young 2008, Saturday April 19th marked a complete day for rugby in Saratoga. Fresh off of the organized volunteer effort for the Malta Town Parks clean-up, the afternoon was capped off with a game where the Saratoga Stampede hosted the Mountaineers of Saranac Lake.
As the first game of spring, Stampede V started out as an evenly contested match. Both teams fought hard early on. Eventual man of the match, inside center, Paul Campbell, used his quick feet and sizeable frame to pound the ball inside several times in the first half. This helped the forwards, led by the young scrum half, Nick Defilipo, to keep the ball in the pack. Hard up field runs were taken by flanker, James Rigney, and bruising, thunderous trots damaged the psyche of the opposition when fellow flanker, Pete Mody led in pod play.
Even with the smashing hits, Saratoga found itself down 21-5 at halftime, with the Saranac Lake scoring done mainly on overloads on the outside. The lone Stampede score was by Rigney, who ran far along on the left side of the field for the score.
The second half showed some brilliance by the Stampede, as the back line got more involved and came up big some big plays. Campbell fought hard up the middle for a try and flyhalf, Doug McCluskey, used his golden boot to convert. Saratoga put one more score across the line, but in the end, Saranac Lake came out on top with 24-19 victory on the road.
Up next, the Stampede are scrimmaging Union college on April 26th; they shall return back home on May 3rd against the old men of the CT Greys. Be sure to visit www.saratogarugby.org for updates and changes.
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