Ellerslie Rugby Park – St. Albert’s second division men finished the season on a positive note albeit in a losing cause in the Edmonton Rugby Union (ERU) playoffs.
“We were definitely the underdogs in second div. Nobody thought we would make it this far,” said a teary-eyed Frank Lucas after the post-game handshakes in Saturday’s 39-15 loss to the Leduc Crude in the J.W. Shaw Cup final. “It feels good to get this far, it’s just unfortunate that we came up short.”
The seconds finished 7-7 overall after Leduc (13-1) beat them for the third time this year.
“It was still a great way to end the season,” said captain Sean LeLacheur, his jersey splattered with blood from a head wound that needed medical attention. “We’re not far off from being where they are. To go from not even winning the third division last year to being in the city final this year, that’s a huge step for our club.”
This year St. Albert was one of the few clubs to field teams in the first, second and third divisions. After the 2007 provincial second division championship victory by the first 15, St. Albert rejoined the premier ranks but maintained its third division squad. The thirds qualified for the Visser Cup finals the last two years in the ERU playoffs and a strong core made the move to seconds.
“We’re a young team. Bomber [Justin Armitt], Nate [Reis] and I are the oldest guys on the team. The average age is probably 22 and that’s good for the club,” said Lucas, a 25-year-old standoff and the second 15’s most valuable player in 2009.
The seconds struggled for most of the match.
“Sure it’s disappointing but it’s good to get this feeling out of the way. A lot of young guys now know what it feels like to lose like this,” said LeLacheur, a 25-year-old second row.
Penalties were St. Albert’s biggest problem.
“They got a few quick penalties and it’s tough to go down early to a team like that because they play real good defence. You’re not going to get a lot of free points, and we knew that going in against them,” LeLacheur said.
Several defensive stands limited Leduc to 12 points in the first half. At the break the seconds trailed by nine.
“I won’t say there was a turning point, just a few errors on our part,” LeLacheur said.
In the fifth minute Leduc missed a penalty kick from outside the 22. Leduc continued to pressure for points, but a sequence of tackles by Justin Serink, Brad Angove and Reis around their 22 kept it scoreless. Leduc eventually broke through in the 14th minute off a ruck in tight of the try line, as the ball carrier whipped around St. Albert’s right flank.
The seconds replied with a penalty kick by Graeme Scott from inside the 22 in the 19th minute. Leduc showed a brief weakness defensively as LeLacheur won a lineout ball inside the 22, followed by spirited runs into contact by Reis, Lucas and Henry Quaye before Leduc was tagged with a penalty.
A kick for touch by Ehren Cox in the 22nd minute took away a possible scoring opportunity from Leduc.
After another missed penalty kick by Leduc, the seconds almost scored on a great individual effort by Angove. The outside-centre evaded several defenders en route to the try area, where he was swarmed over by three tacklers and the referee ruled the ball was held up by Leduc in the 27th minute.
Leduc closed out the scoring in the 38th minute with a try near the corner flag after some frantic back-and-forth action.
Early in the second half Leduc kicked a penalty and then broke free for a converted try. In the 61st minute, Leduc made it 27-3 with another try.
It was 34-3 when one of the Taggart twins cracked Leduc’s try line in the 74th minute. The forwards led the charge deep into Leduc territory, assisted along the way by Lucas and Armitt. Scott kicked the conversion.
The seconds closed out the scoring with a try by Reis.
“Overall, they just outmuscled us. They also got a few lucky bounces,” Lucas said. “We didn’t really stick to our game plan today. We were more worried about our defensive structure and we just didn’t capitalize whenever we did get the ball.”
In the semifinals the seconds performed admirably as they humbled the Clansmen 29-10 on the Clan’s home field. The visitors exploded for 24 unanswered points in the second half.
“It’s been a rollercoaster ride this season, but that was definitely a game to remember and build on,” LeLacheur said.
