With a riveting 25-24 win over Shreveport, Dallas RFC not only clinched a playoff berth, but also moved up a spot in the West-South, from fourth to third. To do the latter, they needed a little help from the Austin Blacks, who beat the then third-place Austin Huns 58-13 Saturday. Therefore, the Huns and Dallas swap seeds, sending Austin to Aspen and Dallas to Glendale May 8th for the DI West crossovers.

It was all on the line for Dallas Saturday - if they lost, it would have created a log jam in the middle of the league table, and they, the Huns and Shreveport would have shared identical records, leaving playoff aspirations and destinations in the hands of tiebreakers. But as long as they took care of their own business and beat Shreveport, they knew they had a ticket to the playoffs waiting for them, they just didn‘t know where it would take them.

“We looked at it either way,” said Dallas president Jeff Kolberg. “If we won and went to Glendale or we won and went to Aspen, we looked at it as a real opportunity to play somebody good.” The key part of that equation was Dallas winning, but visiting Shreveport, with playoff hopes in tow, wasn’t going to make it easy.

Dallas attacked quickly, extremely quickly, scoring just 23 seconds into the contest.  “We noticed something a little irregular on the return side,” said Jeff, “so (Matt Rawle) kicked it to the short side and Kelly Kolberg caught it on the fly and ran it and put it right under the pole.” Rawle nailed the coversion, putting the home team up 7-0.

Kelly, playing wing, asserted himself again shortly thereafter for Dallas’ second score, racing one in from beyond 50 meters, and with a failed conversion attempt, Dallas held an early 12-0 advantage.  However, Shreveport would roar back, scoring two converted tries and nabbing a 14-12 halftime advantage.

Rawle opened the second half with two Dallas penalty kicks, giving them an 18-14 lead, but once again, Shreveport’s forwards responded, scoring a go-ahead try around the 70-minute mark. Shreveport missed the conversion, but led 19-18. That was until Dallas got the ball back in the hands of Kelly Kolberg for their final try, something Shreveport made a concerted effort to prevent after his two first-half scores.

Rawle nailed the conversion, which would prove to be priceless, putting Dallas up 25-19 with less than 10 minutes to play. The Huns would again answer back with a try, but they scored near the touch line and with no time left on the clock, leaving their playoff destiny on the leg of their drop-goaling kicker.

“They probably made a big mistake in not trying to take some more time and try to push the ball into the middle of the field and score then,” said Jeff. “I knew what they were going to do, and I knew they were going to put it over in the corner, and I knew if they did that we were going to win, because there was no way they were going to convert from the touch line.”

Shreveport’s kicker missed, and Dallas won by the narrowest of margins, 25-24. The May 8 West crossover matches are now set in stone. The pairings are listed below.

Aspen (North #1) vs. Austin Huns (South #4)
Glendale (North #2) vs. Dallas (South #3)
Houston (South #1) vs. Denver Highlanders (North #4)
Austin Blacks (South #2) vs. Kansas City Blues (North #3)

First, a congratulations to the San Antonio team for a hard played game and for their efforts to find a field that was playable. With all of the San Antonio area under water, the SA Club found a soccer field close to the old Alamo City pitch, converted it to a rugby pitch with temporary posts, kicked off grazing wildlife and hoped for the best. Following a late kickoff due to the venue changes, the SA forwards drove the ball against Dallas scoring with their 8 man in the 15th minute of play. San Antiono led 5 to 0. A blocked Dallas kick, and a long grubber by the fleet SA wing scored the try, the conversion was good, and SA led 12 to 0. In the 30rd minute, Dallas challenged with a set piece at the 10 meter line which culminated

in a Spike Kolberg try, and the first half ended 12 to 5, in SA's favor. The second half provided good footing for the Dallas side, and two minutes into the half, Spike, countering from full back, weaved througt the SA defense for a 50 meter try. The conversion was wide, but SA led was cut to 12 to 10. Six minutes later, Spike scored again from the mid-field area following a great inside pass from Aussie Bubbles Williams. #10 Aussie Pockets Rawl made the conversion, to put Dallas ahead 17 to 12. In the 25th minute, #13 Ryan Bloom scored a great try, but the referee failed to see Bloom touch the ball down, and no try was awarded, but five minutes later, he did it again from 35 meters, touching in mid-goal this time.