Omaha vs. DSM Recap

Omaha traveled to rival Des Moines Saturday, where the weather was picture perfect at kickoff.  Omaha struck first after Des Moines committed a penalty in the ruck, and Andy Markham split the posts to put Omaha up 3-0.  Des Moines pinned Omaha deep in their territory, and were able to capitalize after an Omaha turnover making the score 5-3.  Shortly after, a Des Moines defender jumped an Omaha pass and took it in for an easy score and conversion.  Omaha answered with another penalty kick by Andy Markham struck beautifully from a tough angle against the wind.  Des Moines responded with another turnover off set-piece and their winger showed some speed and footy skills down the sideline and touched it down for the home team.  After a few too many high tackle issues, Omaha saw themselves go down a man for 10 minutes with Jaco Visser visiting the sin bin.  Des Moines was able to expose the mismatch and score, but Omaha answered once Visser came back on the pitch with a try of his own.  Due to several stoppages for blood subs and other injuries, Des Moines was able to dot one more down on an unfortunate bounce of the ball before the end of the long half.  Omaha went into the half trailing 11-31.  The second half proved to be too much for the visiting GOATS, and Des Moines made the most of their depth and brought in a lot of fresh legs.  After a couple of unfortunate injuries and another yellow by Omaha, Des Moines was able to score a few more and keep the GOATS out of the endzone.  When the final whistle blew, the score was 11-50 favoring the home side.  Despite the score,  a few unlucky bounces of the ball and a couple miscues made a large difference, and the GOATS left having played a physical and hard fought match.  Omaha will look to right the ship next week with their first home match against the division leading Iowa City Ducks at Storz Rugby Complex.