Victory!! In their first league match after moving up to D1 the men in black secured their first win on the road versus the Kansas City Blues.
It was vindication for the decision to move up a division, all the hard work done by previous coach Ben Myers and the board to get the club to this point, the efforts of the new coach John Watson, and the hard work from the boys at practice.
From the very first whistle the Bombers strung together 17 uninterrupted phases at their first crack. Though successful in keeping the ball in hand for so long, the Blues were equally successful in stopping the Bombers just short of the try line for much of the first half. The Blues managed to get on the board first kicking a penalty to go up 3 points at the 24th minute, but the Bombers would soon take over for a while. Rookie and opting out of playing at his college SLU, Chris “Bruce” Campbell (you may recognize him as the 7s MVP from this recent summer) made his debut in black by dotting one down for the Bombers’ first try at 37 minutes only to turn around and tack on his second try 3 minutes later right at half time with some very impressive line breaks to go into the half up 12-3 after a made conversion.
Upon return the Bombers came out still fired up with captain Dave Klug putting one down just 3 minutes in. Another player making his debut in black, Tom O’Connor (recent Lindenwood University graduate) proved his reputation was well deserved as a silent and violent type making a plethora of critical tackles and causing multiple turnovers. He was able to break the line capitalizing on one of these turnovers for his first try of the match at 49′. The Blues took advantage of a knock on in the Bombers defensive end for their first try of the game, but the Bombers were quick to respond. A quick defensive line forced a drop pass and lock Tyler Masters was able to kick it off the deck and recover as he fell over the try line. O’Connor turned around after the kick and zipped by the defense for his second try of the game. Unfortunately the Bombers were dealt a difficulty injury to previous coach, starting lock, and arguably one of the best tacklers of the day Ben Myers, suffering a season ending broken knee cap and had to leave the game. The Blues put 2 more tries down in the winding minutes from broken play and quick wingers, but the Bombers were able to hold them at 3 tries for a final of 40-20. Mark Menne kicked 5 for 6 on conversions with a good amount of them closer to the sideline than middle.
The white side took the field for a second match and put up a good fight, but eventually fell just short to the Blues D2 side. More than a handful of players showing massive improvements and posing as serious contenders to crack the black side starting lineup. The depth to the club has never looked better, and it’s only expected to improve with more players returning or getting back into the US throughout September.
Man of the match went to rookie Chris Campbell for his impressive debut with a men’s club, followed closely by Forward of the Match Tom O’Connor. Both men were more than spectacular in their first game in black and everyone is very excited to have them on board and see where they help take the club.
While coach John Watson and the players were pleased with the final result, they know the path ahead only gets harder from here. Metropolis put up an impressive 72-3 win over Milwaukee the same day and one of the favorites of the league. Watson will look to continue developing the team’s structure under his vision and prepare the boys for a very tough match ahead. Be sure to get out and enjoy the beautiful weather while it lasts and cheer on the Bombers in their first home matches of the season. Let the travelling team know what club they’ve come to face. Let them know the Bombers are here. Let them know we intend to Paint it Black.
