VAIL - When a team of 15 players is looking to move a ball downfield and score against another team of 15 players, momentum is often the means to do so.

The Vail and Breckenridge Blue Goose Rugby Football Clubs had little of that Saturday in what was a lethargic, fragmented rugby match riddled with whistles, dropped balls and knocks.

After Vail scored on two lineout drives in the first half, the Blue and White held on to beat the Goose 17-7 at the Vail Athletic Field, and sweep the season series, 2-0.

Even with the win, Vail coach and player Steve MacKinnon lamented the slow pace.

"If anyone came out to watch their first game of rugby, it wasn't really a showcase," MacKinnon said. "It's really hard - you've got a referee who is as poor as that guy, and it's hard to play. He doesn't play the advantage. It was all about him. It must have been awful for people watching the game because he blew the whistle every two seconds."

Goose coach Peter Shafroth thought his team had trouble stringing things together in the first half with all the whistles.

"There is no flow to the game when he blows the whistle that much and I felt that he was inconsistent all the way around," Shafroth said. "I don't think he did one thing for either side, but we couldn't get any flow going."

Neither side helped themselves much either, dropping passes and knocking the ball on, which set up many scrums.

Vail controlled the ball for much of the first half and took an early 5-0 lead when flanker Brian Peters touched the ball in the try zone following a lineout and rolling drive. The Blue and White would miss the long conversion attempt.

Near the end of the first half and following a Breckenridge penalty, Vail kicked out of bounds about 10 yards from the try line, setting up a lineout. After Vail won the lineout, the other Vail flanker, Enos Otieno, brought the ball in to give Vail its second try. Again, Vail failed to convert.

Breckenridge had one good chance deep in the Vail end, but the Blue and White defense held strong, and won possession back.

Not much changed as far as overall tempo in the second half, although the Goose earned more possession and threatened several times in the Vail end.

"We thought we played a much better second half," Shafroth said. "We just made so many mistakes. We started to get the ball out to our backs more, so we put a lot more pressure on Vail, but I felt we made critical errors and drops. The game could have been a lot closer if we hadn't made those. We were attacking, had a drop and then they came back and scored, and it effectively ends the game for you."

In the dying minutes, Breck's Patrick Stoter took a pass off a penalty, broke through some Vail backs and made his way into the try zone. The conversion bounced off the inside of left upright to close the gap to 17-7.

"It's been a long time since we've beaten Vail, but I feel every year it gets a little bit closer," Shafroth said. "They used to be laughers, and they're not anymore."



Ian Cropp can be reached at (970) 748-2935 or icropp@vaildaily.com.