St. Albert’s premier men will be looking to bounce back from only their sixth loss in 52 matches on Saturday when they travel to Calgary to take on the Hornets. Game time is at 3:30 at Calgary Rugby Park.
The team that hasn’t been able to win the big game dropped a 34-12 match to the Clansmen in a lacklustre effort on home field May 15. The only other game the firsts have lost in more than a year was last season’s provincial final against the Calgary Hornets. The firsts also have one win on the season to date. It was the Hornets that ended the men’s drive for a provincial title last year in a close 24-22 loss in the final.
The men’s second and third division teams, both coming off losses on the weekend, are headed to Grande Prairie to take on the Centaurs Saturday. With all three men’s teams on the road, the club will be stretched to supply a full roster for each match.
St. Albert’s premier women are pushing for win number one on the year when they clash with the Lep/Tigers at Ellerslie Rugby Park Saturday at noon.
It’s been a tough start for the first division women’s team since making the move from second division last year, where it dominated. To date the team has lost its first two games, scoring a meagre 13 points while being pounded for a total of 183 points against. The Lep/Tigers are in second place in the division with one win and one tie.
Premier and city conference men and women’s high school teams head into the playoffs this week on Tuesday and Wednesday.
In the premier conference, the Sturgeon women Spirits have a bye through semifinal action, along with Bev Facey while the Paul Kane women will battle it out with Beaumont Tuesday at 4:45 p.m. at the St. Albert Rugby Football Club. Bellerose will also be in action in the city conference semifinal against Salisbury at SARFC at 4:45 p.m.
On the men’s side, Sturgeon scrums down with Beaumont at Outlaw Field on Wednesday at 4:45 p.m. in premier conference quarter-final action Wednesday at 4:45. Paul Kane and St. Albert Catholic High School (SACHS) will also take to the field Wednesday in the city conference quarter-finals, with SACHS taking on Salisbury at Outlaw and Paul Kane scrumming down with Fort Saskatchewan at SARFC. Both games go at 4:45.
The Sunburst League announced on its website Saturday that the St. Albert Tabbies will not field a team for the 2010 season, which is already under way.
There were no details available as of press time. The Tabbies played in the Sunburst League with the St. Albert Tigers last year.
A new schedule has already been posted, seeing the Tigers taking some of the Tabbies games while eliminating the remaining contests altogether. The Tigers tournament, scheduled for June, apparently has not been affected.
See Saturday’s Gazette for more details.
