The Pelly Cup is more than just a match featuring the Division 1 men’s clubs representing Pittsburgh and Philadelphia rugby. It is played in memory of those who came before us and we seek to honor them by how we play the game. The trophy is named after Eric Pelly, a U-19 player for the Pittsburgh Harlequins who passed away in 2006, and carries a lot of emotion for the entire Quins organization. In addition to honoring Eric Pelly, many of us on Schuylkill River Rugby internalize this trophy to also be a cup in honor of own of our own that passed away well before his time.

Jay “Face” Siddell was a promising young player with a never say impossible attitude, he battled every game very often leading the way, whether it be with a big hit or a big try. Face passed away just before his 25th birthday on January 4, 2008. Many of our players partake in saying his name before and after our matches. It is an honor to do so, and the players remember that when they take the field for this match.

The match itself went extremely well for Skill Rugby and ended up being a 77-5 victory. The depth in our squad on a hot day was the difference as we were able to continuously substitute talented players onto the pitch to keep the team fresh and ultimately ended up running away with it. Despite the score line, it is with sincerity that we say that Pittsburgh battled hard for the entire 80 minutes and played a tough, physical game. They never gave up and we respect them for that.

After the match Coach Grasso stated that “after the win against Rocky Gorge all of our conversations at training focused on making this weekend’s match a statement game. We knew a lot of teams would be watching us and we wanted to show the MAC that it wasn’t a fluke and that we can contend for the title. The rest of the league is on notice now so we know that we’ve got to continue improving and stepping up our game on a week to week basis.”

Jack Ramirez, whose Philadelphia rugby roots go back to Roman Catholic High School, was named man of the match after scoring a second half hat trick from the wing position and other players earning recognition from Coach included flanker Ryan Blythe, outside center Brad Volm, and prop Richard “Pond” Casey.

Cesar DaFonseca also kept up his solid play with a hat trick of his own to bring his season total to 5 tries and Alex Ruiz earned the first points of his Schuylkill River Rugby career with some conversion kicks. Vito Nucci made his Exiles (D1) debut in this match and also added a try.

The Exiles return to action on September 28 in an away match vs Baltimore and Troop also plays on September 28 in an away match vs Wilkes-Barre.

Scorers:
Tries: Cesar DaFonseca (3), Jack Ramirez (3), Ryan Blythe (1), Rich Casey (1), Brian Keown (1), Joe Midwig (1), Vito Nucci (1), Brad Volm (1),
Cons: Keown (5), Ruiz (2)
Pens: Keown (1)

Troop Season Stats:
Tries: Ryan McHugh (2), Vito Nucci (2), Jabari Johnson (2), Kevin Allison (1), Jeff Hall (1), Bryan McCorkle (1), Alex Ruiz (1), Colin Sullivan (1)
Cons: Ryan Tower (6)
Pens: Ryan Tower (1)

Exiles Season Stats:
Tries: Cesar DaFonseca (5), Jack Ramirez (4), Ryan Blythe (1), Rich Casey (1), Ben Janssen (1), Brian Keown (1), Joe Midwig (1), Vito Nucci (1), Brad Volm (1),
Cons: Brian Keown (7) Alex Ruiz (2)
Pens: Brian Keown (2)