Last weekend the Rich-Lions Ladies and the Senior Men both travelled up to Kelowna for our quarter final play off games. It was an early start to catch the bus, and of course the usual suspects were late but we got through the snow storm and arrived on time for the games. The Ladies were up first against what looked like enough players for 2 Kelowna teams. The Rich-Lions fought hard all game but Kelowna managed to get out to a good lead before our Ladies managed to score. The Rich-Lions had some good line breaks that came to nothing but did have a spell of attack in the 2nd half that finally resulted in a try. Tough to travel all that way to lose but well done for making the playoffs and sending a full team to play another away game this half. Final score was 36-7 for Kelowna.
The Senior Men were up next. We were able to watch the ladies play and get the bus trip out of our legs before our game started. We had talked about what Kelowna would change from the game last weekend and what we needed to do to improve on our win on Alumni Day. We knew we had to improve our discipline and weather the early pressure that Kelowna would try and bring to us. As usual talking and doing are 2 separate things. We gave away 2 penalties that resulted in a lineout in our red zone, which turned into a try for Kelowna after 4 minutes. After the restart Kelowna gave away a scrum penalty, we kicked into their 22m zone, a catch & drive from the lineout was held up short of the line but a short pass went to Naps who ran between 2 defenders and outpaced 2 more to score at the posts. Next from a midfield lineout Kelowna attacked wide and got into our 22m zone, we defended 6 phases across the field on our 5m before a pickandgo play sneaked in to score for Kelowna. From the restart Will caught the ball cleanly and we pushed into the 22 and won another penalty, we kicked to touch in the corner but the lineout went not straight, so Kelowna scrum, our pack turned on the power and drove Kelowna off the ball, Naps picked up the ball, drew the defender and passed to Malcolm to score under the posts. Kelowna attacked again and pushed us back into the 22, but good defence caused mistakes and from a turnover Malcolm and Zach took us up to halfway before the Kelowna #15 tried to take off Zach's head and got a yellow card. We used the penalty to push Kelowna back and after conceding another 2 penalties Zach decided to slot one over to give us our first lead right on half time. The score was 17-14 for us. From the 2nd half restart we worked the ball to Naps who punted the ball down into the Kelowna 22. Sike chased and tackled their winger, then Shane intercepted a pass back, from the tackle Zach passed to Dominik standing on the 40m mark, he ran through the first 2 defenders then powered on before a last ditch tackle from behind at 1m from the line, Dominik stretched out an arm and touched down for the try, 24-14.Kelowna knocked on at the restart then gave away a penalty that we sent back into their 22. We won the lineout and worked the ball across the field to a tackle on the 15m mark, pass out to a forward pod and we drew another high tackle penalty, which Zac put through the posts, 27-14. With the lead we started using our sidelines to keep the pressure on Kelowna. The home team were fighting to stay in the game but became too individual and our defence shut them down and turned over the ball. It was then that a Kelowna hurricane blew in and caused havoc with the kicks & lineouts. We lost an attacking lineout in the Kelowna 22 but Naps blocked the clearing kick then Kelowna knocked on. From the scrum Malcolm ran tight to draw in the defenders, Zach ran behind and popped a pass to Naps. Naps ran around 2 defenders, outpaced the cover defence and passed to Jon T who ran on to score our 4th try in the corner. Zach confidently slotted the conversion to make it 34-14. Still 20 minutes to go, game over? No, was the answer. A few minutes later the touchline AR and the ref decided Brett was bad and gave him a straight red card. Kelowna had a lineout in our 22 which we stopped in midfield, Naps got hands to the ball but the Kelowna #7 drove into Naps, the #7 got picked up and put down but Naps had lifted him a bit too high and got a yellow card after the referees conferred. Down 2 players we defended our goal line 3 times before winning a penalty to clear the pressure. We played smart, slowing down play, kicking deep and defending as a team. Ty managed a long clearing kick that pushed the Kelowna #15 back to his 40m, the #15 took the ball back to halfway and found an open seam in our tiring defence, he ran through to our 22m before Zach took him down but an offload to a support runner who outpaced our last defender to score, 34-21. With a few minutes left to go Naps got back on the field. Kelowna kicked to our midfield which Malcolm caught, we moved the ball around and when the ball got to Naps he went for a jog to run down the clock and finish the game. Final score 34-21 for the good guys. We were lucky to have such a good quality referee for a game in the Interior, normally we are up against it when we travel. This was a good team performance and a good playoff win. Thomas set the tone with his big tackles early on, Naps was a constant threat attacking the ball at the tackle and Zach had a gold star day with his kicking, all of which made the difference on the day. This team is on a heater and enjoying our rugby. Next up is a semi-final against the Kats at Brockton Oval on April 26th. Kelowna had made excuses for the Alumni Day loss and really wanted the win to close down the Parkinson Rec. Centre but we weren't there to make them happy, we went to win. The bus ride home was noisy and fun, which was well deserved but we still have more to do!
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