Binghamton Barbarians 15 (0), Cortland Thundering Herd 29 (17)
Barbarian Scoring (as best as can be remembered)
Joe Longo (Try)
The Dude (Try)
Erik Kelly (Try)
Barb O' The Match: Joe Longo (Flanker)
What Went Right:
Tackling and defense. There was a lot of hard hitting going on out there on both sides of the field (see photos) and no one ever kicked for points on penalties. They went for it! Gutsy. The scrums went very well for Binghamton, and lineouts were not the trouble spot they were last season. There was good support throughout the day, and the Barbs were able to probe into Cortland territory in the first half, but were unable to convert that into points until the second. Nice play at fullback and good counterattacking.
What Went Wrong:
Too much thunder from the Herds' centers. Nothing developed for the Barb backline till the second half, despite good results from lineouts and scrums. If anyone kept statistics at this level there might be dispute, but it seemed that Cortland fared better at breakdowns than the Barbs.
Bottom Line:
It's tough to stop a freight train, and Cortland has a fleet of them at center. That five-meter rule at scrums really helps the diesels get their momentum. When Binghamton began throwing the ball around in the second half it started scoring. Stretching the defense to the perimeters produced three tries in the corners. Not optimal placement for the poor kicker, but five points are better than three (or none). The lineout was a strength today, as was a powerful and determined scrum. Three games to go...
Photos
Photos by Jeff Andreasen
