South Jersey 29  Princeton 26
 
1)  Matt Davis
2)  Gene Graf
3)  Tom Diaz
4)  Chris Lina  (replaced by Phil Gambino)
5)  Brian Nace
6)  Joe Lynch
7)  Bob Angelo (replaced by Lina)
8)  Brent DiRomauldo
9)  Alex Diaz
10)  Tom Ferrari
11)  Jon Wojciechowski (replaced by Will Barry)
12)  Stu Ducker
13)  Vinny Santangelo
14)  Mike Rimositis
15)  Jeff Pastava
 
Scorers:
 
Tom Ferrari  1P, 3C
Vinny Santangelo  T
Brent DiRomauldo  T
Alex Diaz  T
Mike Rimositis  T
 
 
The Devils traveled north on Saturday to face a surprisingly fit, aggressive and well-organized Princeton squad.  After two months of cold, wet practice nights, the team faced a hot, sunny day on a hard pitch.
 
The weather appeared to affect the boys a bit as the game started slowly for them.  There was quite a lot of uncharacteristic backchat to the referee and unproductive carping amongst the team.  (It should be noted that this issue was addressed at halftime, and to the players' great credit, was not a problem in the second half.)  Unfortunately, injuries and work commitments constricted the Devils to a reserve bench consisting of only one forward and one back.  It appeared that the frustration of having a short bench in combination with the weather contributed to the early lack of discipline.
 
More worrying was the initial period of play.  Princeton struck first with a simple crash ball through the heart of the defense.  The inside center broke numerous tackles before dotting down next to the posts.  The signs appeared ominous for South Jersey that Princeton would be too athletic and physical to cope with on their home field. 
 
Fortunately, the only ones who didn't seem phased were the South Jersey players.  They just stuck to the task at hand and let the scoreboard take care of itself.  Chris Lina, having returned from a week's vacation that somehow lasted a month, showed that the layoff did him no harm by smoking the Princeton forward who fielded the ensuing kickoff.  The hit resulted in a turnover and then a penalty.  Flyhalf Tom Ferrari calmly slotted the kick and the Devils were back in the game. 
 
Another example of teamwork and tactics creating winning situations.  Ferrari's excellent lofting kickoffs played perfectly to Lina's maniacal charges downfield resulting in scoring opportunities on each restart of the game.  This type of thing shows how much the Devils have progressed tactically.  They recognize how vulnerable teams are after they score and exploit this knowledge to create scores of their own. 
 
Nevertheless, Princeton maintained heavy pressure and repeatedly made line breaks through the center of the defense.  Their second try resulted from yet another crashball.  This time the outside center slipped a gap and made it nearly to the tryzone before the ball was recycled for the Princeton loosehead to slip under a gallant Alex Diaz tackle in the corner.  The Devils were up against it but refused to crack.  Time and again, Ferrari and fullback Jeff Pastava made vital clearing kicks when the team was under heavy pressure.  Pastava in particular showed incredible poise in the first half when the boys were under constant attack inside their own 22m line.
 
The twenty minute mark of the first half produced the key moment of the match.  With the Devils on the rack and looking as if they were about to fade, Man of the Match Vinny Santangelo swooped on a loose ball and raced 60 meters for a try.  (This has become a trademark of the back division.  Make a mistake and they make you pay.)  Ferrari made the difficult conversion for the vital extras and South Jersey visibly lifted with new confidence.
 
After a period of back-and-forth bashing by the respective packs, the Devils were awarded a penalty deep inside Princeton territory.  They opted for a quick tap which resulted in a series of bull-like rushes near Princeton's line.  The pressure eventually told as No. 8 Brent DiRomauldo crashed through near the posts leaving Ferrari an easy conversion. 
 
It has to be said at this juncture in the season that DiRomauldo has been completely transformed by his change of position.  He repeatedly bashed his way through the heart of Princeton pack and never failed to make gainline even when cleaning up bad ball.  His workrate and defensive effort were also excellent.
 
The Devils had been troubled initially by the Princeton four-man lineout.  In a sure sign of growing maturity, however, the players worked it out amongst themselves and completely dominated Princeton's ball for the remaining 60 minutes.  Lina was immense in the lineout.  His repeated steals denied Princeton vital possession and prevented them from maintaining momentum at key times in the game.  In tandem with his steals were Ferrari's lengthy touch-finders which returned play back to Princeton's half and repeatedly relieved pressure.
 
Shortly before halftime, the snakebit Devils were struck again when winger Jon Wojciechowski went off with a broken collarbone.  Thankfully, Will Barry riding in like the calvary came on and played solidly the rest of the afternoon.  (Sadly, Jon appears lost for the season.  We wish him a speedy recovery as he has shown great promise and is a player to watch for in the future.)
 
Halftime arrived with Jersey ahead by a nose.  Coach Wilson felt a change needed to be made in order to solidify the defense.  It should be noted that the defensive leakings appeared to be the result of a situation which was nobody's fault.  Bob Angelo, showing enormous dedication to the team and a hell of a lot of character, gamely took the field despite a badly injured ankle.  Unfortunately, playing on one leg was not possible with the speedy, physical Princeton backs laying up flat and repeatedly bashing the line.  That did not stop Bob from trying though.  Nevertheless, at halftime he had to come off to prevent worsening the ankle and changes were made. 
 
Phil Gambino jumped into the second row and Chris Lina moved to openside.  The Princeton backs weren't thrilled to find the middle channel now patrolled by a nasty guy with a scary goatee.  The first few Lina hits in the second half discouraged any further probing by the Princeton centers and they now resorted to kicking and moving the ball wide.  
 
Princeton were not done by a long shot though.  This is not the same outfit the Devils have seen in the past.  They struck first in the second half by scoring a well-worked try after a nice line break out wide by the talented Princeton outside center.  Worse still, the try was converted and the Devils now found themselves adrift by four points.
 
No worries.  This is a fun group to root for because they just refuse to quit. 
 
Another brutal raping, uh, I mean tackle, by Lina from the kickoff resulted in a scrambling ball and then a penalty near the Princeton line.  Alex Diaz, ignoring the eight hungry buffalos in his pack screaming for the ball, tapped and went himself.  He stormed his way through the Princeton front row for a great try.  Alex was a steadying influence on his team all afternoon with his excellent decision-making.  When the team needed him most he delivered time and again with his cleaning up work and his high tackle count.  He also gave Ferrari excellent service when the team was under the gun and needed a clearance kick.  A quality halfback performance.
 
The dogfight was on but the Devils were now back in front and looking for more.  Some clever chipkicks and earnest chasing forced play back into Princeton's end.   The Devils produced quality scrum ball all day and DiRomauldo used it to charge into the Princeton backs and create openings.  After several close calls (I'm still not sure how the ref failed to award Lina a try when he took a great ball from a five meter lineout and appeared to place the ball in the tryzone), the boys finally broke through when Alex Diaz spotted space from a midfield ruck.  He reversed play with a sharp pass to his brother Tom who deftly drew two defenders and put Rimositis in for a try in the corner.  Ferrari stepped up and nailed an incredible touchline conversion.  That conversion would be key as it changed the complexion of the final minutes of the game.
 
Princeton was now in trouble.  Down by ten with less than ten minutes remaining, they should have went away.  To their credit, however, they would not lay down.  They struck back and camped out inside the Devils 22m line.  The inevitable penalty came and the ball was moved first one way and then another.  Although there appeared to be some suspect forward passes as well as obstruction in the movement, the ref played on and Princeton scored a converted try.
 
With only minutes remaining the Devils were ahead 29-26.  Whereas Princeton became frantic taking ill-advised tap penalties and spinning the ball all over the pitch, the Devils remained unflappable to the final whistle.
 
This win was the result of effort with a capital E.  Truth be told, the Devils did not execute as they had expected to and their play lacked crispness.  It did not matter.  The industry and endeavor showed by all seventeen players overcame their failings.  The result was a great away win against a quality Princeton team.
 
A final note. 
 
The foundation of the Devils win was laid in the front row.  It is perhaps the oldest cliche in rugby that the team that wins up front, wins the game.  Well, if one needed a demonstration of that principle you would need not look any further than this game.  I hope that Matt Davis, Gene Graf and Tom Diaz drank free Saturday night because their teammates owed the win to them.  The amount of tackles made by these three alone was outrageous for a front row.  At times it seemed they were wearing numbers 6,7 and 8 on their backs rather than 1,2 and 3.  They also scrummed the snot out of Princeton's eight while dominating the lineout battle.  Oh, and they also found time to gallop with the ball over and over again. 
 
It was an inspiring display and emblematic of the entire team's spirit.