Sherwood Park – There was more soul searching than celebrating as St. Albert survived Saturday's squeaker in Alberta Cup rugby.
"We're just scraping by right now," said a stern-looking Kyle Gilmour, while challenging his teammates in the post-game huddle to get their act together following Saturday's 22-20 decision over the Strathcona Druids. "We've got to figure this thing out before the playoffs."
The dominating flanker and 2009 senior men's player of the year in the Edmonton Rugby Union later told the Gazette the firsts are good but not great with four games remaining in the league fixtures.
"Today was a win but it wasn't our best day out," Gilmour said of the team's sixth straight victory but the second in a row by a margin of two points. "We've been playing strong for parts of games but we haven't had that complete game yet. As we get closer and closer to the playoffs we have to get better and better each week."
The firsts and Calgary Hornets share the division's best record at 7-1, but the reigning Alberta Rugby Union champions have three more bonus points then St. Albert, the 2008 and 2009 pennant winners and provincial finalists.
"We know we can win games; we went undefeated only to lose in the final last year [24-22 to the Hornets to finish 13-1 overall]. It's just a matter of pushing ourselves and striving to be better," said Gilmour, the MVP of the 13-3-1 firsts in 2008.
The third-highest scoring offence in the league, averaging 34.8 points per game, generated only one try against the Druids (5-2-1), a tremendous individual effort by Adam Bontus in the 47th minute. They also threw away a handful of golden scoring chances, especially in the second half.
"Today we made a lot of mental errors and a ball handling mistake, that at this level can't happen. It's unacceptable," Gilmour said.
The defensive stalemate ended on a missed penalty kick by the Druids from their side of the halfway line, a straight boot that was low and wide left of the posts.
"The game was good at times and bad at other times. It wasn't 80 minutes of concentrated rugby," said Bontus, who pointed to a lack of discipline and shaky ball skills as the team's downfall. "We had a lot of penalties. We also had a few knock-ons too that we wouldn't normally have."
Super try
With the firsts up 9-8 after a sluggish first half, a turnover on the Druids' side of midfield was converted into a try by the opportunistic Bontus. While patrolling the left wing, the former junior B enforcer with the St. Albert Merchants alertly latched on to a miscue, skated past a couple of Druids along the touchline then veered right before blowing away the last defender with a burst of speed. He finished off the play of the game with a flamboyant dive over the try line.
"It was a broken play. A pass went over someone's head and it was a loose ball, so I picked it up. I quickly looked and saw a little gap so I just went with it. There was one guy to beat so I cut to the open space and got it there under the posts," said Bontus, who played senior AA hockey last winter with the Onoway Ice Dogs.
The conversion by standoff Simon Gregory left the Druids trailing by eight. A few minutes before the try, Gregory's drop goal failed to click. As for kicking penalties, the British import converted five out of six. His last kick for points was from a slight angle on the 22-metre line with no wind to fear in the 72nd minute to make it 22-15.
"In the second half we came out really strong and took it to them for a while," Gilmour said. "If we can keep that going then we're going to be looking pretty good going into the playoffs and that is the goal right now."
Sketchy start
The firsts barely turned a wheel in the early stages of the rematch of the season-opener, a 53-7 thumping by St. Albert at home. The Druids opened the scoring with a drop goal in the second minute. Gregory replied in the seventh minute with a difficult penalty kick from outside the 22 against a tricky cross-field wind.
After a deep lineout ball by the Druids was disrupted on the jump by Gilmour, they regained possession and pushed towards the try area. They eventually outnumbered St. Albert on the outside to score the go-ahead try in the 12th minute.
After the kickers exchanged misses three minutes apart — a drop goal by the Druids and a penalty by Gregory from outside the 22 — Gregory split the uprights in the 31st minute from near the 22.
The Druids continued to press for points, but a hefty kick for touch at midfield by St. Albert helped relieve the pressure.
In the 37th minute the firsts jumped ahead as Gregory nailed a penalty from outside the 22.
Before the first half ended, both teams came close to scoring. The Druids suffered a knock-on at the lip of St. Albert's try line and a potential breakaway pass from Jake Robinson to Karim Lynch went haywire for the visitors.
In the second half, the Druids pulled to within one of the firsts by pushing the ball over for a converted try in the 56th minute.
In the 68th minute, second-half substitute Aaron Takel had clear sailing down the left wing towards the try area when he surprised everybody by passing the ball off. The play failed to connect inside the 22 and the Druids took possession.
Down by seven points the Druids capitalized on several sloppy tackles by the firsts with a long, hard run into the try area with only a few minutes remaining. The convert attempt to knot the score from outside the 22 at a tight angle missed.
"They did have a few guys running hard and we missed a few tackles on them," said Bontus, who left the game shortly after his try with a lower body injury. "We struggled a bit defensively at times but for most of the season that's been our strong point. We know we can rely on good defending most days but today we had a bit of an off day at that."
Defeated the Clan
The previous weekend against the rival Clansmen (5-3), a gritty defence and Gregory's game-winning penalty kick late in the match was the difference as the firsts prevailed 18-16 at Ellerslie Rugby Park.
"It was played on a sloppy pitch so it was a pretty sloppy game. I don't think it was the best out of either team but it was a battle. We played great defensively to stay in it and hang on for the win," said Gilmour, 22.
It was a must-win game for the firsts as they challenge the Hornets for top spot. In week two of the fixtures, the Clan shocked the firsts 34-12 on St. Albert soil.
"It was definitely a team builder with it being tight right down to the last minute [as the firsts ended the contest with a goal-line stand]. It felt good definitely to pull it out. Winning games like that helps our confidence as a team as a whole," said Bontus, 23.
Up next for the firsts are the winless Calgary Saracens. The Aug. 7 kickoff is 3:30 p.m. at Calgary Rugby Park.
