Mustang Boys End Road Set with Victory

Friday, May 13th marked the last of three straight scheduled road matches for the U19 Mustang boys as they traveled to Poestenkill to take on the Rensselaer Dragons. The Dragons, coached by CDYR president, Rob Sliwinski, have had a storied season thus far, and were expected to put up a technically sound and competitive match against the Mustangs, who were coming in after a solid team match against the Bulldogs of Albany (last Saturday).
Kick-off was held a bit past five, as the Mustangs arrived a little late with the unexpected traffic. After kitting up, the Mustangs felt that lag as they took the field. The Dragons played in the Mustang half for the first several minutes of the half. Unusual for the Saratoga squad over the past couple weeks, they were on their heals early and often over those first several minutes. In the tenth minute, however, it was captain and fly-half, Chris Heckman (12th, Ballston Spa) who stopped the lethargic behavior and sliced through the Dragon defense for the first points on the day.
This score woke the Dragons up a bit more as they pushed back into the Saratoga end with spirited ball movement, but Heckman got his backs working for him as his centers continued building their familiarity with the game plan as a switch to the outside center, Jack Guba (11th, BHBL), gave them five more points at the 15th minute mark.
Sliwinski's Dragons came back with vigor, though, as they continued to push into the Saratoga end. Their resurgence was helped in part by the plethora of Mustang penalties for being offside at rucks (an attribute expected to be resolved in the upcoming practices!). The Mustangs slowed things down, though, and returned to play on their toes as scrum half Tyler Krastins (12th, BHBL) began driving and working the forwards from phase to phase. Hooker, Zach Besserab (11th, BHBL), capitalized on the surge in the 30th minute as he pushed through for a try. With a conversion by inside center, Race Viedt (10th, BHBL) and a try a few minutes later by eight man Joe Russell (12th, BHBL), the Mustangs went into half time up 22-0 on the Dragons.
At the intermission, the Mustangs changed things up as fullback Ryan Manning (10th, BHBL) went to scrumhalf and Tylor Peragine (12th, BHBL) came in to govern things at the back at #15. A few other substitutions were made to vary the line up as the whistle came to start the second half.
It wasn't long before Manning took over the game as he embodied the furry little animal from the battery commercials as he kept on going and going and going... At the 40th minute, Manning sliced and diced (and forgot to get tackled) for his first try; Viedt converted to make the effort worth seven points. After battling back and forth over the next several minutes, Manning took charge again off of a pick and go and blew through the defense for another try (and another conversion by Viedt).
Manning and Heckman then orchestrated some of the best back line dominance of the season for Saratoga, while the forwards rucked over and over to maintain possession and progress the ball into the opposition's field. Notable in the solid forward play was flanker August Amirault (10th, BHBL) who embodied "will" and "determination" almost every phase. That, along with solid back line play allowed for outside center, Tom Esmann (12th, BHBL), Heckman and Viedt to weave through the Dragon line with shifty moves and the will to succeed to score three more tries for the Mustangs. All were converted by Viedt and the proverbial opposition backbone had been broken.
The staff made a few more positional changes at this point to experiment with line-up; although the line-up was still solid, it was obvious that the Dragons were defending their home field as they drove deep into the Mustang territory looking to points on the board. With the Mustangs' backs against the wall, the pack took charge with a defensive scrum and regained possession and moved the gain line out of danger. Russell swung momentum back for Saratoga at the 60th minute and Manning got his third score on a penalty try at the 65th minute. Viedt used both legs to scamper through the defense for score of his own at the 67th and second row, Dylan Thompson (11th, BHBL) blew around the outside of the defense at regulation for the final score.
In the end, the Dragons fought with poise in this spirited match and competed to the end. The Mustangs, though, traveled with the full roster to play to the highest level they could.

Final score: Mustangs 77, Rensselaer 0. Man of the match - fullback/scrumhalf Ryan Manning.

Next week marks the end of the regular season as the Mustangs host the Berkshire United U19 Rugby Club on Sunday, May 22nd. Coached by a seasoned veteran crew, Berkshire will be coming in just a game out of the CDYR top spot. If Saratoga wins, they will be going to the State Championships over Memorial Day weekend. Please come out and show your support and help these Mustangs make it to the next level.