Metro State showed up short sided, so the Flamingos lent them 3 players. This was just the start of their problems today. The Flamingos scored first and were quickly followed by Metro’s only try. Fort Collins did some soul searching and decided they wanted to play rugby and began to play their game. The final score was Fort Collins 60 and Metro State 5.

Across Town, CSU was playing the Highlanders. The Highlanders also travelled light, so it was arrainged for Fort Collin’s B-side to meet CSU’s B-side. This was also a heated match, but the score was a lot closer. It also featured a Flamingo player getting yellow carded AND a Flamingo getting Red Carded Twice! Why twice? Because the player in question tried to replace an injured team mate, after he had already been ejected from the match. Fort Collins finished the match with only 12 players on the pitch, but still came out ahead at 17 to 10.

Fort Collins competed against Harlequins for the closest game of the season. Within the first ten minutes of the game, the Quins took a quick lead through a try and sucessful conversion. They then returned a second score through a drop-kick, which the Flamingos quickly returned during a penalty, bringing the score to 3-11. The Flamingos didn’t stay down long, however, and through strong play, good tackles, and solid attacks, fort collins ended the half 13-11. Our second half, the Quins stood toe to toe with Fort Collins, with the Flamingos driving in one more try, to bring the score to 20-11. A series of penalties, and the Quins brought the score to 20-14, and with some more penalties, and a yellow card to the Flamingos, the Quins drove one last try, with a successful conversion, within the last 40 seconds of the game.

Final score, 20-21, Quins win.

On a cold day, at Noon, 17 Flamingos brave the cold to stand up to the younger, faster, Colorado School of Mines. Starting the game quickly on their feet, Mines quickly scored 3 goals, swiftly outmanouvering the Flamingos on the field. Not to be outdone, the Flamingos dominated their pack and drove in a score at the end of the first half in a scrum down. The second half saw Fort Collins consistantly fighting down the field toward the try line, and Metro keeping the Flamingos from gaining any more scores. Final score, 3 trys to 1, Mines.

Fort Collins Flamingos played Queen City Rams, at Jacobs Park, in Denver. Queen City began the game with three quick tries through gaps in the Fort Collins defense, quickly building a strong lead. Even with such a hard start, Fort Collins kept high spirits, strengthened our defensive line, and held a strong defense through the rest of the game. Our offense was strong throughout the game, and most of Queen City’s tries were scored by capitolizing off their speed, through gaps in the Fort Collins defence. Final score of the game was 33-14 Queen City.

Colorado School of Mines then played against Queen City, beating Queen City 40-0.

The final game of the day was Flamingo’s B-side against Colorado School of Mines. This game saw a much more controlled and collected Fort Collins team. With a very organized defence and a strong offence, Fort Collins won the game 24-0.

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The Flamingo’s first scrimmage of the sping season versus CSU was a success yesterday, with the two teams playing three 30 minute “halves”. This was a great learning experience for both sides, and has given Fort Collins a few focus points for the next 2 weeks of training. Thanks CSU, and good luck on the rest of your season! Fort Collins players need to attend training at 5:30 pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays, AND need to work on fitness on their own. The first scheduled match of the season will be against the Division I Denver Highlanders on March 5th.

Let me start with a big THANK YOU to Amy Porter, for the amazing house which she arranged for the team.

9:40 AM, Saturday morning, on a frozen field of snow, over two dozen Fort Collins players, and more than a dozen Flamingo Supporters, had their first match of the day. We would be playing against Queen City Rams, for the first game of the tournament. Our players took the field, playing a hard fought match with QC, finding the score 1-0 in our first win of the season. With one win under our belt, we went on to play School of Mines, playing another tough game, coming out with a 3-2 win at the end.

Our third game, was against School of Mines Alumni. This was a tougher, bigger group of players, and going back and forth throughout the game. In the final moments, we allowed our backs to be drawn in, allowing for a score bringing us to a 2-3 loss, putting us in a three-way tie for first in our bracket. Due to points scored, we came in second in our bracket, going in for semi-finals against the Blue Goose.

The final game, semi-finals vs. Breckenridge, the Blue Goose showed their skills in spinning the ball out to their backs, and capitilizing on overloads, finishing us with a 0-4 loss, putting us in a tie for third place with the Harlequins. Breckenridge went on to win the tournament.

Following the tournament, Fort Collins players, huggers, and friends, returned to the house to party, eventually finding the bars, well into the night. Through the night, we showed once again our strength as a club lies both on the field, and off the field, leaving us with, once again, a great tournament under our belts.