Back to the game, LTU had decided to run the first half with a lot of their players that don't get much opportunity to get playing time, and I decided to do exactly that as well. So below is our starting line up
1. Caleb, 2. Josh, 3. Brandon, 4. Chris, 5. Conner, 6. Will, 7. Bryan, 8. Daniel, 9. Lucas, 10. Andrew, 11. Talhah, 12. Nicky,13. Seth, 14. Franklin, 15. Zac
Coming in the second half -
Andrew moves to Scrumhalf, Brian in at Flyhalf, Eric in at Wing, Daniel moves to Flanker, Jake in at #8 and Myles at Hooker, Steven in at Outside Center.
The first half was furious with both clubs running and attacking, it was a very entertaining half, and it was UT Dallas to score first. Andrew Whiteis scored on a quick penalty tap to weave in and out between the LTU defense to ground the ball, we missed the conversion and took a 5 to 0 lead. But LTU was fired up and came back to score 12 points in the first half to take a 12 to 5 lead.
The second half resumed with both clubs putting in their first sides and the excitement continued. UT Dallas forwards were very impressive in their play and the backs made things happen. And like the first half, this half was very entertaining for fans to watch. Both clubs moved the ball all over the pitch and both clubs defended well and stole ball away from each other for their side to counter attack.
In the second half, it was our forwards that lead the pace on our scoring. Caleb scored his first Try of the season, but LTU came back to score a Try of their own. With about 10 minutes remaining in the match Daniel scored the second Try of the half and Brian Martinez converted not only Caleb's Try but Daniel's as well to tie the match at 19 points each. But LTU wasn't done, with a well placed kick and inexperienced players at wing and full back, we fumbled the ball back to LTU and they scored and converted the match winning Try with less than 2 minutes remaining in the game. Final score LTU 24, UT Dallas 19.
The lads played very good against a slightly bigger side and we know that things are beginning to fall into place for our run at the playoffs at the end of this month. Next weekend, we have a bye and will be attending the USA Eagles v Canada match in Austin. Our final league match will be played again in Austin against St. Edward's University on Feb. 20th. More on that later, but the bye weekend gives us time to work on our game, heal get ready for that very important match leading up to the playoffs.