SMRC vs. OMBAC – First 2012 Meeting

The 2012 Division 1 rugby season kicked off for Santa Monica in somewhat stormy conditions on Saturday, although the field was reasonably dry and the sun shone. Five minutes into the seasons first game, flyhalf Brian O’Shea kicked his first of 5 first half penalty kicks on the day on his way to scoring 20 points off the boot (5 penalties, 1 drop goal, and 1 conversion).

OMBAC answered when multiple SMRC penalties pushed the home side deep into their end before kicking a penalty of their own and quickly adding a seven pointer to their tally. OMBAC added a second penalty in the second half to bring their tally to 13.

Santa Monica Flanker, Conrad Stolz opened the try ledger when he plowed his way over for a five pointer midway though the first half. Center, Loa Milford also bulled over after stepping the cover defense to score just before half time.

Halftime score- 27-13

The second half opened with the home side on attack again. Following a quick tap from a penalty Captain and #8 Ken Aseme stormed ahead before placing the ball back cleanly in the tackle. O’Shea found himself in the slot and cooly slotted the drop goal to extend the home teams lead.

OMBAC stormed back and using the strong wind, and playing downfield found itself back in the game after scoring a flurry of points. Several of the scores came while the Dolphins played a man down while Stolz served time in the bin for a high tackle.

OMBAC scored it’s final points with 1 minute left in the game when they scored a try on the wing after exploiting a Dolphin defensive miscue. The conversion was good and the good guys found themselves down 7 points with 1 minute to play. Reserve lock, Chris Kelley batted the ball back from the kick off, and several players rumbled forward toward the OMBAC line. After several multiple, multiple phases, and several OMBAC penalties for being offsides; Aseme took the ball out of the ruck, and rumbled under the post for the go ahead score. Center Phil Howard added the extras to bring the score to 37-34 on full time.

Tries: Stolz, Milford, Aseme
Conversions: O’Shea, Howard
Penalties: O’Shea 5
Drop Goals: O’Shea

1) Seeman, Bart; 2) King, Pat; 3) Nasser, Keaton (Scott, Will- 60); 4) Shannon, Jim; 5) Winter, Zac (Kelley, Chris- 50); 6) Cooper, Matt (Lupini, Brenno- 50); 7)Stoltz, Conrad; 8) Aseme, Ken; 9) Coolley, Pierce (Carpio, Danny -15); 10) O’Shea, Brian (Chouchena, Anthony-70); 11)Regas, Nick: 12)Milford, Loa; 13)Howard, Phil; 14)Serfoss, Kelly; 15)Ross, Alistair
(reserves: Knox, Robert, Bercovicci, Alex, & May, Spencer)