The Omaha GOATS RFC traveled up to scenic Decorah, Iowa this labor day weekend to face their first opponent in Division 3 Iowa, the Northeast Iowa Rugby Barbarians. It was a rainy morning, but the clouds cleared and made for a hot, humid, yet beautiful day for rugby. The GOATS came out flat and NEIA capitalized with three tries quick tries. With frustrations beginning to build, the GOATS committed two back to back yellow cards, leaving a 15 on 13 advantage to NEIA. The GOATS defensive stiffened, but still allowed another try to the home side and Omaha went into the half trailing by 24. When the 2nd half started, the GOATS came out determined and drove down the field. Andy Markham scored a thunderous try for Omaha's first score of the season, dragging a few NEIA players along with him. Soon after, Dalton Beam sliced through the defense and dotted it down between the posts, and Jake Byorth added a conversion to bring the score within 12. The GOATS continued the offensive with a late try by Greg Woodin with a beautiful assist by Beam, and Woodin added a quick conversion to make the score 24-19. Omaha failed to maintain possession off the kickoff and the ensuing plays and the score remained with a 5 point difference to NEIA at the final whistle. Omaha looks to build off their successful second half and take that momentum into their match at Des Moines Rugby next Saturday at 1 pm.
