The Denver Barbarians survived a second half scare in Seattle to beat OPSB 27-24 and clinch the second seed in the RSL West Conference.

Mike Graham slotted a long, angled penalty kick with time expired to lift Denver Barbarians to a 27-24 heart-stopping Rugby Super League (RSL) victory over Old Puget Sound Beach (OPSB) in Seattle on Saturday.  The Barbarians’ win clinched a home quarter-final match on May 15 at a location to be determined.

As in the victory against Chicago Griffins two weeks ago, the Barbarians dominated the first half.  Denver’s domination of possession and field in the opening stanza failed to be fully reflected on the scoreboard at break.  Denver took a 14-5 halftime lead on the strength of #8 Nic Johnson’s try, two penalty goals by Graham, and a drop goal by flyhalf Maximo De Achaval.  Denver used their forwards to great advantage and methodically assaulted the middle of the OPSB defense.  Besides placing pressure on OPSB, Denver’s possession kept the ball away from the lightening-quick Seattle wing Filimoni Botitu.  Botitu was dangerous every time he touched the ball and scored OPSB’s sole first-half try against the run of play.

Denver widened the lead in the first 5 minutes of the second half when De Achaval spotted space behind the OPSB backline and punched a kick through from 10-meters out for Phil Bolton (on for injured Taylor Howden at fullback) to pounce on.  Graham’s conversion was good.  At 45 minutes, Barbarians 21, OPSB 5.

Denver continued to apply pressure in the manner that proved effective in the opening period and were rewarded with another penalty kick, again converted by Graham.  Barbarians 24, OPSB 5.

Denver, with this large lead, began to kick away its possession, getting away from the plan that had worked so effectively for 50 minutes.  OPSB jumped at the opportunities and scored three cross-country tries and converted two of them to knot the score at 24-all with 10 minutes remaining.  Second-half try scorers for OPSB were Botitu (his second of the match), flanker Punimata, and Eagle Kevin Swiryn scored the tying try.  Fullback Bobby Fitzgerald converted two tries. At 70 minutes, Barbarians 24, OPSB 24.

With momentum clearly shifted to OPSB, Denver grabbed their lunch pail, their hard hats, and went back to the pick-and-shovel approach that had allowed them to dominate the opening 50 minutes.  Their defense stiffened and they shut down the OPSB outside attack.  The Barbarians’ forward pressure led to a penalty from which flyhalf De Achaval used the referee’s advantage signal to launch an unsuccessful drop goal for the win.  The referee brought the penalty back, due to the advantage, and Graham slotted his long winning kick.

Assistant coach Robbie Dawe was complimentary of his forward pack who were dominant when they stuck to the game plan.  He had special praise of Denver’s front row:  props Chris Moreno and Josh Masek and hooker Andrew Post, who played the whole match.  Dawe also cited non-regulars Tom Hewitt who played both lock and #6 after the injury to forward Travis Meidinger; Rob Moreno, who logged his first start at #6; and lock Ben Schnake whose learning curve from the college game continues to grow.  These reserves put in good matches and were key to Denver earning this victory.  Dawe was also happy about the Barbarians taking the challenge after OPSB clawed back to tie the match, returning to the game plan, and exerting pressure to create the opportunity for Graham’s winning kick.

Dawe was less complimentary to the overall kicking game employed by his backline from 50-70 minutes, which led to OPSB unleashing its outside speed via the counter-attack.  Man-of-the-Match for the Barbarians was #8 and captain Johnson, who Dawe described as nearly unstoppable at times in the match.  Forward Travis Meidinger (started at lock and went to #6 at half, before retiring at 50 minutes with a knee injury), and the front row trio of Moreno, Masek, and Post all drew individual mention for Man-of-the-Match consideration from the coaching staff.

Barbarians’ Club captain Chris Moreno echoed much of Coach Dawe’s praise and criticism of Denver’s performance, but wanted to focus on the positive effort of his side.  “We had a job to do and got it done.  We had players step up and give good efforts.  The most important aspect was that we closed out the match.  We have let some close matches get away in the last three years and we did not let that happen Saturday.  I am proud of the guys.”

Denver’s win earned a home playoff match on May 15 against Boston Rugby Club, who finished the year 4-2 in the Eastern Conference of the Rugby Super League and pounded Potomac Athletic Club 50-15 to secure their playoff position.  Match time and location will be announced at www.denverbarbarians.com.

DENVER BARBARIANS:  1 Chris Moreno, 2 Andrew Post, 3 Josh Masek, 4 Adam Drury, 5 Travis Meidinger (Schnake at 50 minutes), 6 Rob Moreno (Hewitt at half), 7 Garrett Peterson, 8 Nic Johnson, 9 Matt Trenary, 10 Maximo De Achaval, 11 Jody Kramer (Mark Bokhoven at 60 minutes), 12 Mike Graham, 13 Jake Humphrey, 14 Ben Haapapuro, 15 Taylor Howden (Bolton at half), 16 Robbie Dawe, 17 Ben Schnake, 18 Tom Hewitt, 19 Mark Bokhoven, 20 Phil Bolton, 21 Drew Legge.

Head Coach:  Stephen Hazel
Assistant Coach:  Robbie Dawe

Scoring: 
Tries:  Johnson, Bolton
Penalties:  Graham 4
Conversions:  Graham 1
Drop goals:  De Achaval

OLD PUGET SOUND BEACH:  1 Travis Schulze, 2 Dan Trierwheiler, 3 Brian Howard, 4 Patrick Bradley, 5 Adam Kopp, 6 Nu-uese Punimata, 7 Tim Jacobsen, 8 Pale Ale, 9 Evan Bariault, 10 Russell Armstrong, 11 Kevin Swiryn, 12 Michael Stewart, 13 Patrick Curtis, 14 Filimoni Botitu, 15 Bobby Fitzpatrick, 16 Kevin Graham, 17 Vladislav Mnatsakanov, 18 Charles Buchmeier, 19 Chris Stone, 20 James Hetland, 21 Isimeli Daveta, 22 Eric Forner. 

Head Coach:  Tim Zern

Scoring:

Tries:  Botitu 2, Punimata, Swiryn
Conversions:  Fitzpatrick 2