Ellerslie Rugby Park – The team that can't win the big game has a score to settle at provincials.
"This time boys, we're going to do it!" head coach Chal Smyth declared as St. Albert's premier men whooped it up after their most satisfying victory in years, 20-17 over the notorious Clansmen in the Alberta Cup semifinal Saturday.
"Third time will be the charm, boys!" chimed in Graham Noren, captain of the second-best first division team in the province the last two years.
Seeded second in the playoffs after back-to-back first-place pennants, St. Albert will challenge the surprising Calgary Canucks for the Labatt Cup on Saturday at 4 p.m. at Calgary Rugby Park. The Canucks are coming off a shocking 25-15 playoff upset of the defending champion Calgary Hornets.
"I can't believe we're playing the Canucks," British import Simon Gregory said during St. Albert's post-game festivities. "Obviously they are much improved from when we played them last."
In his St. Albert debut, the product of Portsmouth scored a try against the Canucks in the 21-12 forward-dominated affair June 12 in Calgary. After falling behind by an early try the firsts led 7-5 at halftime. It was 14-12 with two minutes remaining, when flanker Kyle Gilmour scored a game-clinching try under the posts.
"They gave us a tough time. They've got a relatively big, gritty pack. In their centres they have a couple of guys that to look at you wouldn't think they have a lot but they're all over the field," said Noren, 26, a veteran prop who leads by example. "Obviously they can surprise people like they did the Hornets."
After posting a sixth-place 7-5 record, the Canucks stunned the third-place Druids 19-13 in Sherwood Park before knocking off the first-place Hornets.
"You know what? It doesn't really matter who we're coming up against. We've still got to put in the same effort we did today," said flanker Ben Robinson. "We wanted it more than the Clan did. We had it all; toughness, heart and defence."
For the third straight year St. Albert is the highest-ranked playoff seed in the provincial final. In 2008 the second-place Calgary Saints beat the firsts 24-10 in Calgary. Last year the third-place Hornets handed the firsts their only loss of the season, 24-22 at Ellerslie Rugby Park.
"It's a different line-up this time. We don't have the out and out studs," Noren said. "Coming in as the second seed this season might help too. We had to put the hard work in a little bit more than we did the last couple of seasons and that will help us hopefully prepare a little better for the provincial final. It will give us a little more grit and determination because we've had a bit of a harder road to travel."
As a valuable newcomer to the firsts, Gregory senses the urgency surrounding the team's championship quest.
"There is definitely a want there. The guys that have been here over the years are really pushing hard for this," said the 22-year-old standoff.
It would also mark the first provincial crown by the men's first division in the rich 29-year history of the St. Albert Rugby Football Club. The last first division championship was the 1989 Ken Ann Cup in the Edmonton Rugby Union.
"You can feel the excitement all ready. It's a big game. It's what we've been working towards all year and we can't wait to play it," Robinson said.
Playoff triumph
In the grudge match against the rival Clan, the firsts played like demons after giving up a converted try in the third minute.
"They came out firing but we hung tough," said Robinson, who celebrated his 24th birthday with a robust effort against the Clan. "They took a lot more penalties than us and we were able to put points on the board."
The firsts went on to score 20 unanswered points before the half ended, then went into a shell defensively during the last 40 minutes.
"We lost our composure. We got away from what we did in the first half and we made it hard for ourselves that second half," Smyth said.
They almost let the 20-7 lead at the break slip away.
"When we have teams on the ropes, like we did at halftime, we've got to know when to deliver that knockout punch. We started letting them in with stupid things like niggly penalties that kind of gave them momentum. We also started getting kind of lazy with our tackles," Noren said.
After the quick try by the Clan the firsts roared back to score off a penalty play in the seventh minute. After Brett Kelly rumbled towards the Clan's 22, the ball was flipped to Matt Herod and he dished it off to Duncan Maguire streaking down the wing and he beat two defenders in a race to the corner of the try area. A difficult conversion near the touchline by Gregory was off the mark.
In the 12th minute a pulverizing run by Edwin Shimenga ended with several defenders scatted on the pitch and a penalty kick awarded to the firsts. Gregory was perfect from inside the 22 to put St. Albert ahead 8-7.
Four minutes later, Gregory's drop goal from inside the halfway line left the Clan reeling.
"I've probably only kicked five or six drop goals in my whole life, so to do it out here was a nice little novelty," Gregory said of the wicked three-point play made famous in St. Albert by retired Welsh standout, David Owen. "I heard Matt Herod say we had an advantage and there was nothing really on, so I just sat in the pocket and got off a hell of a strike and it just managed to get over."
Leading up to Gregory's successful penalty kick from an easy spot in the 23rd minute, his chip and chase for British import Karim Lynch to track down in the try area almost clicked.
After the Clan missed a penalty, Shimenga's teeth-rattling tackle paved the way for Gregory's attempt from inside the 22 to make it 17-7 in the 33rd minute.
Gregory would close out the first half with a penalty kick from inside the halfway line that hit the bottom post and another boot from outside the 22 that split the uprights.
"Just before halftime we really had them on the rack and you could see they were really wishing for halftime," Gregory said. "In the second half we lost our composure. Next week we have to keep our heads cool and come out with an 80-minute performance. We can't switch it off for 10 minutes because we're going to be playing good players and they'll sense that and they'll put the foot on the gas."
Tough defence
The firsts started the second half with a long goal-line stand before the Clan swung the ball wide for a try in the 45th minute but the conversion was no good.
The Clan continued attacking in waves but Gregory's timely kick for touch, Lynch's dash from his try line past the 22 and Robinson's lineout steal in St. Albert's end kept the score intact.
In the 62nd minute, Gregory and Maguire teamed up for a chip-and-chase, but the speedy winger was unable to corral the ball in the try area.
The Clan kept pressing but were stymied by a series of defence plays by Adam Bontus' long kick for field position, Herod's fumble recover in front of the St. Albert posts and Gregory's kick for touch at midfield.
Tempers flared in the 71st minute, as Bontus and the Clan's fullback exchanged punches. Both players were sentenced to the sin-bin.
After a try by the Clan in the 78th minute made it a three-point game, the firsts buckled down defensively to keep the enemy at bay before time ran out.
"This is a great result for us. Hopefully next week we'll go into the final and win it," said Gregory, who flies back home the day after the provincial showdown. "I would love to go on the plane holding a medal. That would be absolutely perfect."
St. Albert beat the Clan without the services of superb flanker Kyle Gilmour and cagey scrum-half Jake Robinson. They played for the Calgary-based Prairie Wolf Pack in Saturday's 19-8 loss to The Rock in the Canadian Rugby Championship final in St. John's, Nfld.
Several players rose to the challenge with the pair of all-stars unavailable. Shimenga played arguably the best game of his three-year career for St. Albert in the centres. Herod was outstanding in a rare start at scrum-half by the fullback/winger. Kelly inflicted pain at eight-man with punishing tackles. In the second half, the tireless Sean LeLacheur subbed on at second row after playing the whole game in the second division's playoff loss to the LA Crude.
"Everybody showed up to play today. It was a close, hard-fought battle and we needed everybody to beat them," said Ben Robinson.
The first 15 are now 38-6-1 overall in premier after going 18-1 as the 2007 second division provincial champions.
