Final Score - South Jersey 29 North Bay 14
 
1)  Matt Davis
2)  Gene Graf
3)  Tom Diaz  (replaced by Rob Hoban)
4)  Brian Nace
5)  Phil Gambino  (replaced by Frank Coco)
6)  Joe Lynch
7)  Bob Angelo
8)  Brent DiRomauldo
9)  Alex Diaz
10) Tom Ferrari
11)  Jon Wojciechowski (replaced by Jason Hoban)
12)  Stu Ducker
13)  Vinny Santangelo
14)  Mike Rimositis
15)  Jeff Pastava
 
Scorers:
 
Gene Graf  1 T
Vinny Santangelo 1 T
Mike Rimositis 3 T
Tom Ferrari 2 C
 
 
 
South Jersey traveled to North Bay on Saturday, April 14 and delivered a huge win under incredibly adverse conditions.  Due to injuries and work commitments, six members of the previous week's A side were unavailable for selection against North Bay.  The 18 players who traveled nevertheless rose to the challenge and produced a controlled team effort that decimated North Bay.
 
It was noted afterwards that there was not a single player who performed poorly.  It was the best overall team effort seen in a long time.  The leadership provided by Tom Diaz was excellent and he set the tone for the afternoon by absolutely monstering the first North Bay runner in the game.  For the next 30 minutes the South Jersey pack physically dominated the opposition and controlled both possession and field position.
 
The biggest improvement came at set pieces where Matt "Dump" Davis brought much-needed stability to the scrums and Gene Graf's lineout throwing guaranteed a steady stream of possession for the backs.  The decision-making by the halfbacks, Alex Diaz and Tom Ferrari was flawless.  Man-of-the-Match Ferrari used nicely weighted kicks to constantly force play into the North Bay 22 and had the North Bay back 3 scrambling for their lives.
 
The first try came from a lineout where Joe Lynch, playing out of his mind, grabbed another great ball that was mauled into the tryzone for Gene Graf to touch down.  Lynch played his best game yet in a South Jersey uniform in dominating the lineout, hitting rucks constantly and putting in timely tackles.  He even made a one-handed catch-and-dish in traffic that nearly led to a try and would have made Richie McCaw jealous.
 
The second try was a triumph of team decision-making and the ability of players to find space.  It resulted from a period of sustained pressure in which Brent DiRomauldo, in his first game at 8 man, put in several storming runs that scattered North Bay's defense.  Ferrari, seeing space wide, put in a perfectly placed kick for Rimositis to score. 
 
A further score came from intelligent counter-kicking by South Jersey that led to a hideous clearance attempt that went straight to Rimositis who broke about 5 or 6 tackles (it's hard to keep count after a while) to score again.  Despite the fact that he was clearly the best player on the field, North Bay's flyhalf delighted South Jersey by continuing to kick to Rimositis. 
 
I suspect North Bay's flyhalf drank alone after the game.
 
A head injury to wing Jon Wojciechowski required Jason Hoban to come on for his first A side game.  Forced to play out of position for the remaining 50 minutes of the game, he never put a foot wrong and showed that this squad is developing depth.
 
South Jersey came under pressure before halftime with a series of penalties that led to a North Bay try after at least 8 phases inside South Jersey's 10 meter line.  It is becoming a hallmark of this team that they can soak up pressure inside their own 22 meter line and not crack.  There were at least 4 separate instances in which North Bay had six or more phases inside the 22 and came away with nothing.  Huge hits were put in by Dump Davis, Tom Diaz and, as always, Brian Nace.
 
More of the same was served up by South Jersey in the second half.  DiRomauldo yet again bashed his way through the heart of the defense with supporting runs by Diaz and Graf leaving North Bay short out wide.  The ball was intelligently moved wide but the pass went to ground.   Stu Ducker, playing like a seasoned vet although actually in his first A game, scooped the ball, stood his ground in the tackle and offloaded to Vinny Santangelo to skip past two defenders to score under the posts.
 
A short while later South Jersey again stretched North Bay to create space wide.  Ducker yet again was able to take on a defender while freeing his hands for an offload to Rimositis for his hat trick.
 
With nearly no time on the clock North Bay finally punched over from a penalty as a clearly disinterested South Jersey side knew the game was wrapped up.
 
This game is a benchmark for how far the team has come and bodes well for the Fall.  In the past, players would have given themselves a pass and shown up expecting to lose.  Under the leadership of Tom Diaz, however, this group showed they have matured.  The key veterans all played outstandingly well and the newer players complimented them well.  The man-of-the-match could have went to 6 or 7 different players.
 
Job well done all around.

Note - There was no B game due to a numbers shortage on both squads.