Sports
Cranford Players Help County Rugby Team Win Championship
Cranford's Greg Mika and Connor Leahey played for the Union County Mud Turtle Rugby League's under-19 team.
Article submitted by Cranford resident Eileen Leahey. Send your articles and photos to whitney@patch.com.
Cranford players in the Union County Mud Turtle Rugby League's under-19-year-old boys division helped take home a championship win on November 28.
Greg Mika, Connor Leahey (both Cranford residents), Cameron Burke, and Pat Taranto were joined by Matt Leonard and Mat Benedetto (Fairfield Prep), Connor Welles, Andrew Abt, and Will Mendelsohn (Harvey School) and Matt Nesi (Long Island Colts) to play in the under-19-year-old boys division of the NY7s.
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NY7s, or rugby sevens, is a variant of rugby union in which teams are made up of seven players, with shorter matches.
The team went with low expectations, playing to have fun. But after their 40-0 win over St Peters Prep in their first pool game, it seemed something special might be in the works. In their second match, they beat a team from Quebec, Canada, 31-14. In their final pool match, they handled Camden, 24-0, to set up a match versus powerhouse Xavier of New York in the cup final. The Xavier team had won all their pool matches and were defending champions.
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Union opened the scoring as Cam Burke secured a corner shot. A few minutes later Connor Welles sold an audacious dummy and scored under the posts.
Matt Leonard converted (12-0, Union). Xavier struck back with a try and conversion and looked ready to tie the match as a Xavier ball-carrier beat the defense.
As he went to touch down, Connor Leahey made a tackle from behind causing a knock on that Andrew Abt scooped up and headed toward the other try zone. A tackle stopped Abt but resulted in a yellow card to Xavier and a penalty kick for Union.
Mat Benedetto scored a try off the penalty kick and Leonard converted, (19-7 Union). Abt sealed the victory with a smashing run through and past the Xavier defense, Leonard converted and the Union squad won their first championship.
For more information about UCRFC visit http://www.mudturtlerugby.net/index.php.
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