The Pelham Rugby U15 team started slowly Sunday, settling for a 1-0 lead at the half against Ridgewood. The opposition perhaps sensed some cockiness from the undefeated Pelham team, playing an aggressive first half and going toe-to-toe with Pelham’s best. Pelham also made mistakes in the period: lining up wrong, rushing the play, making bad passes and committing too many penalties.

Thanks to the efforts of Whit Johnson, Morgan Collins, Matt Rabinowitz and Dan Maydwell, Pelham kept Ridgewood from scoring.

The second half opened with a long try run by Luke Persanis down the left sideline. Some more defensive work by everyone on the Pelham team frustrated Ridgewood. Pelham’s Joe Nelson dominated lineouts, and after some very tough running by Josh Quinn and Kevin Ndou, Ridgewood could no longer stop the onslaught.

Tries were scored by Xavier Worsely, Johnson, Matt Biskup, Ndou and Persanis (2).

Man of the match went to Johnson, who has been one of Pelham’s best players every game. His defense shut Ridgewood down and his passing opened them up.

The U13 team had a tough one. Pelham was missing a lot of kids for the game and had to play 10 v 10 since they started the game with only 10 players. The first 10 minutes were a very close, good game. Some poor tackling hurt Pelham in the later parts of the match. Eventually, James Bristow and Aiden Sisk scored, with good play by Quinn Scanlon, Conner Evans and Player of the Match Will Jarka.

This Sunday, Pelham is at Iona College, with a real rugby field, real posts, stands and a scoreboard. The U13 v Lycee kicks off at 4:30 pm. The U15 play Cheshire at 5:30 pm.