MIT A fall to Saratoga

MIT made the long trip to Saratoga this weekend in their latest league fixture. Despite a delayed kick off the game got eventually got underway at a tremendous pace.

Both sides were contesting the ball with all their might and no backward step was taken by either team. The deadlock was eventually broken when the Saratoga flanker spotted a weakness in the MIT inside defence and capitalized to score under the posts.
MIT were set back by the early score but pressed ahead into a strong breeze. Despite some good work at scrum, lineout and hard running from first receiver, their efforts were not rewarded and Saratoga increased their led to ten points with a long range penalty.
There was resolute fringe defence and big hits on show all over the park but MIT were again undone shortly before the half time break when a speculative kick up-field was allowed to bounce and Saratoga benefited from the hop of the ball to claim their second try.
The strong breeze and long boot of their outhalf again lead to pressure in the MIT half and the Saratoga eight was able to add another score to their tally just before the break.

The second half began as the first half had with the forwards exchanging charges and tackles up front in a very physical battle. The pressure from the Saratoga defensive line and the kicking abilities of their outhalf were the key factors once again as the second half resumed. A line break from the full back was finished in the left corner by their captain to increase the lead. Another defensive lapse from MIT was punished when a clever kick was not dealt with and their winger capitalized to increase the lead. Saratoga also added a penalty to finish out their scoring on the day.

With fifteen minutes remaining MIT were knocked back by the loss of their fullback Xavier to a shoulder injury. Xavier having returned from a long term shoulder injury has had a great start to the year and been one of the leading lights in the backline. We wish him a speedy recovery from his injury and hope to see him on the field again soon.

After the injury break MIT continued to put an impressive physical effort into the game despite the losing scoreline. Players were hungry for work despite the tired limbs as MIT made inroads into Saratoga territory in the final ten minutes. After a decisive scrum turn over near the home sides line, scrumhalf Gavin cleaned up some messy ball to feed outhalf John who executed a rehearsed move with winger Patrick. Patrick burst through holding off two defenders before offloading to number eight Mick to record MIT’s only try of the game. The conversion was added to leave the final score 44 to 7 to the home side.

The game was played with huge physicality and pace. MIT, despite the loss, showed great character throughout and their commitment was never in doubt. There is plenty of work to be done to eliminate the errors that coughed up scores but the team is determined to fix these on the training field and bounce back next week

MVP: James
Tries: Mick
Conversion: John G