POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (September 21, 2008) -- The Brewers conceded two early tries and were down 12-0 but showed considerable composure to rally and defeat cross town rivals Marist College on Sunday at the Vassar Farm. It was a hard fought affair and even at the end Marist had an opportunity to win before Vassar made it safe. The final score was 21-12 and Vassar improves to 2-0 in divisional play.

Vassar College Men 21 v Marist College Men 12
Tries: James Purtle (1), Will Thanhauser (1), Omar Fayyaz (1).
Pens: Garrett Montgomery (2).

Vassar hosted Poughkeepsie neighbors Marist and early on it seemed as if this was a home game for Marist! They scored a simple try in the first 5 minutes from a scrum 5 meters out when their mobile number 8 picked and ran blind. Vassar flanker Aly Massoud was asleep and never got off the side of the scrum quickly enough. Then just 5 minutes later a deep kick took a Marist bounce and they were under the posts with a 12-0 lead. The touchline was alive with cheers and support for Marist and the home crowd was stunned.

But Vassar clawed their way back into the contest and to their credit they did not give up any more points in the match. But they did make hard work of this win.

Marist is much improved on last year and Vassar is still trying to gel as a unit. The team seems a little flat at the start of games this year and they'll need to change that attitude or face a lot of uphill battles.

Behind by a single try Vassar squandered a couple of chances to level matters. First, Garrett Montgomery held on to a pass that should have gone to left wing Jindra-Cotilla for a walk-in try. Later the forwards were turned over following a tap penalty near the Marist goal line.

Marist scored their second try when they won a lineout on the 10-meter line of Vassar's half, the ball was moved wide with a big miss pass and when Ryan Keeble tackled his opposite number the ball was passed back and then kicked deep in to the Vassar half. The chase was good by Marist and the bounce perfect as they ran in untouched.

Vassar's scrum began to gain a slight edge and from a scrum 10 meters out Garrett Montgomery put away freshman wing James Purtle who dived over in the right corner. At 12-5 the home team fans finally had something to cheer about and the score gave Vassar a much-needed boost to their confidence.

In the centers Nick Schmidt and Ryan Keeble ran well and are developing in to a useful partnership. Omar Fayyaz continues to impress at flyhalf and it'll be interesting to see what will happen when first team regular Conor Boylan returns to fitness.

The first half was territorially dominated by Vassar but they kept giving away penalties just when they seemed to get some continuity. Flanker Will Thanhauser is a terrier. He never stops running and tackles anything that moves! He was in support down the blind side and ran in a very important try to make it a 2-point deficit as Marist led deservedly at the half 12-10.

The Brewers began the second half very well going through a number of phases before being held up in-goal. But Marist defended staunchly and cleared their lines after a poor pass from Montgomery to Fayyaz.

Connor O'Neill the Vassar fullback had a lovely game. He dealt with everything that the Marist attack sent his way, apart from the one deep kick early, and consistently beat the first defender. His run backs were an important factor in the win.

As the second half wore on Vassar pressure finally produced a penalty right in front of the posts and they kicked for goal to make it a 13-12 lead. Just 30 seconds later following the restart Marist were awarded a penalty that would have put them back up by 2 but it was pulled across the front of the posts. It was nip and tuck with a couple of good chances going astray. James Purtle was put away but the pass was adjudged forward.

Marist too had enough possession to manufacture opportunities. But the passing of the halfbacks didn't always give them the best options. A second penalty from Montgomery and it was 16-12 with about 10 minutes remaining.

Marist knew that a try could win it and they threw caution to the wind. They moved the ball wide a number of times to outflank the Vassar defense. Vassar responded with some good cover and they also launched attacks breaking through the middle with Keeble.

Flyhalf Omar Fayyaz took a ball at pace from a scrum, hesitated and then went again to dive over in the last minute for a try and a 21-12 win. The try probably flattered the home team but they had earned the win and denied the visitors a bonus point.

Team: 15 Connor O'Neill 14 James Purtle 13 Ryan Keeble 12 Nick Schmidt 11 Sebastian Jindra-Cotilla 10 Omar Fayyaz 9 Garrett Montgomery 1 Winston Clement 2 Kevin Frodell 3 Rhys Bambrick 4 Mario Arthur-Bentil 5 Rupert Johnson 6 Aly Massoud 7 Will Thanhauser 8 Iain Gordon.

Overall record 2008-09: 2-1-0.
Next weekend: Sunday September 28, 2008 v Iona College at Vassar College Farm, kickoff 1:00 pm. (N.B. This was originally an away game but is now to be played at Vassar.)

Vassar College Men "B" 5 v Marist College Men "B" 22
Tries: Roku Fukui (1).

The first 15 minutes was like being in a hailstorm for the Vassar "B" team as they failed to make first up tackles and the Marist side ran rampant. They scored 4 tries and converted one in that opening spell and a very shell-shocked Vassar team was left to ponder the very basics of the game.

But the second half was a much better effort. In fact one probably found out more about the character of these lads given the deep hole they were in and how they responded than if they had been ahead.

Paul Tkaczuk who had been abused in the first half tightened up his defense and added some good strong runs. The forwards produced some good ball and it was now the Vassar backs running at the opposition rather than chasing shadows.

Tyler Blake won some good lineout ball, Michael See looked like an NFL linebacker such were his hits, and Alex Koechlin was a real presence when he came on at prop. Roku Fukui filled in at standoff and battled well while Anshu Uppal and Dave Chase never stopped tackling.

The team was rewarded when Fukui was driven over for a try and a much more competitive second half finished with Vassar's try being the only score.

Team: 15 Adam Steel 14 Mike Ilardi 13 Paul Tkaczuk 12 James Purtle 11 Anthony Pinggera 10 Sebastian Jindra-Cotilla 9 Danny Thomas 1 Guillermo Farias 2 Hal Moore 3 Barrington Archer 4 Dave Chase 5 Tyler Blake 6 Kaedin Jemiolo 7 Michael See 8 Anshu Uppal. Subs: Alex Koechlin for Guillermo Farias.

"B" side overall record 2008-09: 1-1-1.
Next weekend: Sunday September 28, 2008 v Iona College "B" at Vassar College Farm, kickoff 2:45 pm.