The Kansas City Blues got a second-half try from scrumhalf Casey Cummings and a late penalty by Michael Mercer to beat Metropolis 18-12 in a preseason friendly played in neutral territory in Des Moines, Ia.

“It was a good win for us,” said KC’s Scott Adamson. “We were able to meet Metropolis in the middle, use some liberal substitution rules, and we got some time for some young guys.”

Marty Cummings opened the scoring with a try for KC and Joe D’Agostino added a penalty. Metropolis scored midway through the first half through Wade McInroy and then McInroy added another early in the second, with Nate Osborn’s conversion that made it 12-8 Metropolis. But the Casey Cummings try put the Blues ahead 15-12 (with the D’Agostino conversion), and Mercer iced it with 13 minutes to go.

“We really had to work hard,” said Adamson. “I don’t know how long it was but we ended the game with a really long goal line stand. Metropolis is a tough team, really well coached, with some great players, so it was tough.”

Metropolis did leave five starters at home as their DII and DIII were in action.

“KC are a very good team that defend well and there kicking game was good also,” said Metropolis Head Coach Nate Osborn. “For us it was more about getting ready for our season. Don't get me wrong we want to always win, but we opted for lineouts and scrums rather the shots at goal. Our systems worked well but we let ourselves down with bad passes or drops with numbers to spare on the outside - KC's defense was good as well so it wasn't all us; they stopped a fair bit.”

Osborn said he would like to see better first-up tackling and his team had some handling errors. With the Midwest season fast approaching, they will want to improve on that quickly.

Meanwhile, the Blues have a few more weeks before the season starts, but have to be encouraged, especially with the play of Casey Cummings at scrumhalf.

“Casey was Man of the Match and it was well-deserved,” said Adamson. “We have wanted to give him some more responsibility and he has done a phenomenal job.”

KC Blues 18
Tries: M. Cummings, C. Cummings
Convs: D’Agostino
Pens: D’Agostino, Mercer

Metropolis 12
Tries: McInroy 2
Convs: Osborn