Dramatic Griffins win fueled by horse power

On a warm Saturday evening at the storied King's Park rugby grounds, the Valley Griffins started a new era with a dramatic win. The brand new hybrid Griffins and Majai squad took some time to settle in, but did so spectacularly with some excellent second half play.

It was a club day for the USRC Tigers and they came out with high energy straight from kick off. With some inspired play from their talented fly half, the tigers found gaps early in the Griffins defense and as a result scored two early tries before the water break. The Griffins did show flashes in the first half, however, with some great runs up the middle by a strong front row lead by Tom Burrows and Monir. Unfortunately some unlucky dropped balls prevented scoring opportunities set up by great runs out of the backs by Sam Zheng and Fabian Joseph towards the end of the first half.

After the first 35 minutes, the Griffins found themselves down 10-0 and in need of some soul searching to get back in the game. After rousing words by coach Jeff, Captain LaRoy, and Dave "megaphone" Ashton-Howarth, the mighty Griffins came out buzzing in the second half. Getting off the line quickly in defense, the Griffins put a lot of pressure on the Tigers pack who couldn't quite handle the size and experience of the Valley side. Once settled in and developing a rhythm of hard runs up the middle with forward pods, some space opened up out wide and Lukas was able to fly down the sideline for the first score for the Griffins.

The final minutes of the second half were tense, with the Tigers starting to show some fatigue and giving up a few too many costly penalties while defending mostly on their side of the pitch. With a large group substitution for the final few minutes, the Griffins forward pack nearly finished the game with a couple of scrums inside of the opposition's 5 meter line. After a number of tough runs right at the goal line, the Griffins caught a break with a late Tiger penalty. A heads up play by our scrum half with a quick tap saw him cut through the defense to put the ball down for the try with just 6 seconds on the game clock. With the score even at 10-10, Coach Jeff calmly lined up the kick and absolutely nailed the conversion just inside of the post to seal the victory. A loud and proud rendition of the Valley song rang out as the Griffins celebrated the second Brothers, and fourth Valley win of the day. The Griffins showed grit and true Valley spirit with the come from behind victory, and will look to continue this early success on the road next weekend against the Pandas at TSW.

Back of the day: With some fancy footwork and blinding speed down the wing, our back of the day was none other than Sam "Giggles" Zheng. It was his Griffins debut and the energetic American football convert from Beijing did not disappoint. Honorable mention goes to Rion "The Hammer" Yeh for some bone crushing hits in the second half, bringing life to the Griffins defense; and of course to Coach Jeff Yip for having ice water in his veins in making the tough conversion to win the match.

Forward of the day: Our forward of the day was really strong throughout the match and played almost every minute, the award goes to JQ Kwan. Whether it was making a big tackle, securing a ruck, or a strong carry up the middle; he was mister reliable throughout the match. Honorable mention goes to vice captain and bulldozer of a human being, Tom Burrows for some brilliant runs that really tested the opposition.

DoD: We had a few nominations for the infamous DoD award. Chris Cheung earned his place in this club for mistaking the 5 meter line for the glory line, and knocking on a would be try as a result. Hot Tub Dave also earned a nomination for try avoidance after not being able to score on a beautiful interception that he clearly wasn't offsides for. The winner of this notorious award however goes to a man that should never be kicking in the first place, yet decided he would use his sizable boot to catapult a ball right off of his teammate's head in warm ups. That would be our talented big man mr. Tom Burrows.

If this first match was a taste of what the season has to offer for the talented Valley Griffins, then we are in for a hell of a ride. A reminder to all that training is on Tuesdays and Thursdays at HV6 from 8-930pm, and the Bar and Grill just so happens to serve up tasty beverages.