I played my first game of rugby by just showing up at the field with my brothers John and Jimbo. We won 4-0 ... no - trys were four points not three as many of you now want to believe about me. It was a long time ago, though ... Clark has the binder of Whitemarsh Lineouts. Clark, you wrote them, yes, but they are Al Little's - he loaned them to me ... don't lose them! I think it was 1975. Ask Clark, he can get you a date.

We keep getting new guys out to play this season and I tell them ... once you play your 1st game ... you'll start to get it! So, I'm talking to Shane Coady of all people, at the Betzler Outing Monday and he says ... "I think my sons may be interested ... I'll, of course, have them come out and watch first." I shoot back, "Shane you're kidding me. Did you watch first or just play?". "I played," he says. We had three new guys on the field Saturday that never played before, never saw a game, nothing. From all indications, they had a blast. We had a couple more guys who played their first Philly-Whitemarsh match. Last week I think we had 8 first time PW players. It was good to see G-paa Ebert and Lex McCurry and Mark Sanders and Brad Mills. Two weeks in a row Jeff Schmidt and Stephen Siano played halfbacks. You have to go back to 1984 to find the last time those 2 halfbacks got picked for A-side 2 weeks in a row. Let's put it this way: Brett Favre is still very young in comparision.

Along with our cleated club members, I saw Al Little, Jim Halprin, Sean Coady and Ed Curran on the sidelines. Al told me he forgot his cleats? They all made the trek to Levitown to catch the club in action. So, this is our club. There's a few more guys in the middle I didn't mention by name and yet another new guy who came out Tuesday, but this is what we are doing. We are building a club again - not a team - a club. It will not take long and we will all wonder why we got so off track, but the walleby is embedded firmly in the Liberty Bell once again. We have a direction. We have a purpose and we are building the club. If you are reading this, I encourage you to plan to enjoy by participating in club matches and upcoming club events.

The game started out OK - just OK. We're still very much in the rebuilding mode. A lot of new guys and a lot of older guys who are out to get a run and help out. Our 100 year-old halfbacks - let's not forget them. We're hardly a well-oiled machine. I think we were down three trys to nil by half. What I loved was all the on-the-job training. I wasn't sure I was going to get G-paaa on the field before the game. He showed up with his wife and four kids. He did start the game. By the half, he was steaming about fitness and using your head and body position. It was great stuff. Lex McCurry, Brad Mills, Mark Sanders and Freddie the K were all chipping in - leading by example.

The Hibos came out strong in the second half. We really weren't ready for them. Somewhere in the middle of the second half we scored a few trys. First time PW player Dave Likens bowled over for a try. The Siano conversion put us on the board with 7. Pat Iffrig made a slick move just after and we were on the board again. The conversion gave us 14 for the day. As the final score indicates, the Hibos poured on the scores after that - ball control by their big pack of forwards made it tough on the PW boys. Another new PW player, Pat Humbert, scored on the final play of the game. An exhausted Stephen Siano completely missed the ball trying to drop-kick the conversion. Final Philadelphia Whitemarsh 19 - Hiberians 57.

Bob Haller received Man of the Match honors. His excellent play at #8 was reminiscent of a Kevin Coady or Mark Caron effort. We're proud to have him on our club. I beleive you will be reading more and more about this gifted young athlete.

We head off to Bethlehem this weekend to face Lehigh Valley. Like PW, Lehigh Valley is a combination of old local teams including Bethlehem, Allentown and South Side.

PWRFC v. Hibernians
1. Freddie Koniecki
2. Eric G-PAAa Erbert
3. Mark Sanders
4. Lex McCurry
5. Justin Boehert
6. Mike Burns
7. Matt Quigg
8. Bob Haller
9. Jeff Schmidt
10. Stephen Siano
11. Charlie Tasloski
12. Mike McKenzie
13. Pat Iffrig
14. Bobby Carroll
15. Pat Humbert
16. Dave Likens
17. Ali Moghaddam
18. Pete Lockard
19. Paul Semon
20. Brad Mills