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Show J .kj if JO , Hf- A rugby limeout can be a hazardous place to be, as this photograph from St. George indicates. Mucker backs come out running in St. George season opener by Dave Mueller In 1983 the Park City Muckers waited until the final weekend in June to win their first match of the season. But that was a fluke, an aberration, a cruel payback pay-back for all the seasons that the Muckers started fast with four or five victories by the Fourth of July. And the players who struggled through the long winless skein? Most are back with the Muckers, and most traveled to St. George this past weekend to try to put together a different sort of initiation for the new season.' 1 The result: Park City 12, St. George 7. "They weren't the greatest great-est team in the world," said Second Row Rich Reilly. "But they played a hard-nosed hard-nosed game and gave us a good workout. It sure was good to drive all that way and not lose. Man, that got old last year." The Muckers came out of the gate running on Saturday, Satur-day, with the backline putting constant pressure on the home side. At the 10-minute mark Paul Lam-phier Lam-phier connected on a penalty goal to put the Muckers in front 3-0. With the Park City forward pack beginning to take charge late in the period, the Muckers changed up on St. George and kicked to open-side open-side wing Steve Simchen for the try. Lamphier converted the goal and the Muckers -took a 9-0 advantage to halftime. The second half saw some scrappy play by both sides. Park City's Bud Macchia and Blacky Jones teed off on their opposite numbers and Jackson Jack-son Popovich, playing his first match in at scrum half, was decked with a stiff-arm tackle. The physical mode of play seemed to suit St. George as they pulled back into the match with a penalty kick by player-coach Nick Vicksell. Then the home side had a backline movement which was certain to end in a St. George try but for a knock-on deep in the Park City end. The Muckers countered with five minutes of furious effort by their forwards, controlling the ball and forcing St. George into an offside on their own 25-yard line. Lamphier hit his third kick of the day to put the 1 Muckers up by nine at 12-3. St. George staged a late-game rally in the last five minutes to almost steal the day from the Muckers. A backline movement carried across the Mucker line to bring the home club to within five points with plenty of time remaining, but the attempt at goal sailed wide. At this point the score held at 12-7 and it was a saving tackle by Ken Tedford that preserved the Mucker victory. vic-tory. "We thought we were in control of the game," analyzed analyz-ed Reilly. "but no doubt about it: We were out of shape. It's a good thing we didn't lose. This was a great trip." Mucker Muddlings The rugby club will travel to Ogden this Saturday to play another "first match" against Weber State. Kickoff is slated for noon. With the addition of Weber, Ogden and St. George, the Utah division of the Great Basin Rugby Football Union now numbers 10 clubs, five of which field at least two sides. This expansion has taken place mostly in the past three years and will allow the Muckers to add games while reducing travel. |