Rock in the race with win over Bears

The Atlantic Rock completely stuffed the BC Bears with a 20-6 victory on home turf to set up an exciting finale in St. John’s on Sunday. Defense was the name of the day as the Bears simply could not find the gaps and were met with twos and threes at each collision. The try-less effort will be a big letdown for Bears coach Gabriel Fulcher, who surely hoped for much better with the addition of a handful of players on Canada’s radar.

It was clear the home side was up for it as Matt Murphy won an early penalty at the breakdown. Aidan McMullan’s trusty left boot duly obliged for three points. Two penalties conceded by the Rock handed the Bears a very kickable opportunity to level it but they spurned the points in favor of the corner, a decision that proved costly as the maul was stopped short and Matt Heaton turned the ball over for Patrick Parfrey to clear his lines and then some.

With the pressure already evident, both sides showed signs of quality interspersed with poor mistakes. Knock-ons, overthrown lineouts, and soft penalties were given away with neither able to take any advantage. BC shifted gears and Phil Mack was given more license to come infield. The injection of pace put the Rock on the back foot and this time Brock Staller took the kick when the inevitable penalty came.

Immediately from the restart the Rock got a big play from their captain Owen Parfrey. The wily hooker got under the support to win a penalty, but McMullan’s effort was pulled right of the uprights. Another missed opportunity to attack an outnumbered Bears defense was squandered and instead the loose ball gave Mack a chance to take the blindside. His step and offload looked to have put Admir Cejvanovic into the corner, but the pass was forward and yet another scoring opportunity left wanting.

Frustrations mounted for the Bears when a furious attack from a lineout beyond halfway went through several phases only for Staller’s ill-advised pass to find a Rock hand instead. Parfrey cleared and then Mack kicked it out on the full to give away a lineout on halfway.

The lineout drive was followed by the big men before releasing the backs. Emil Sehic took out three defenders with a step and offload to put Heaton in space, with the flanker drawing and leading Alex Rogers through the gap. The centre nearly found the line himself but Murphy was on hand for the offload and the support drove him over for the try. McMullan was too casual on the convert and was bizarrely charged down.

Heaton and Murphy were making a mess of the breakdown and after five minutes of the second half the latter didn’t quite get it right. Staller hit a line drive through the posts from 40 metres and brought the Bears back to within two.

A few minutes later the Bears were under pressure after a lovely back-door offload from Rogers found Bryce Thomassin on his outside. Parfrey’s chip ahead wasn’t the best option and turned over possession but Guiseppe du Toit’s clearance was a shocker and skidded along the ground straight to McMullan. The inside-out step put him clean through and only Mack’s desperate cover tackle stopped him from a certain try. Tony Pomroy took his time at the breakdown and hit Sehic on a terrific line for the seven-pointer under the posts.

The Rock brought on an entirely new front row and at the first time of asking it paid off in spades with a huge shunt to win a penalty against the head. A poor option at the lineout gave the ball away but the tap-back was unclaimed and instead it was another penalty to the Rock. This time the scrum was the only option. The nudge was on but for some reason Zac Coughlan picked from the base. It looked a bad decision but the forwards made up for it as Keelan Chapman spun around the fringe for a decisive score.

There was no happiness to be found for the Bears as the Rock defense stymied their best efforts in the final moments, the look of dismay at the final whistle telling the story. The Bears are now destined for the basement, but have one last chance to find a victory in Ontario on Sunday. It’s a completely different story for the Rock, who upset the apple-cart if they can upset the Wolf Pack at Swilers, also on Sunday.

ROCK 20
Tries – M. Murphy, E. Sehic, K. Chapman
Cons – A. McMullan
Pens – A. McMullan
Yellow cards – P. Parfrey

BEARS 6
Pens – B. Staller 2

ATLANTIC ROCK
1 Frank Walsh 2 Owen Parfrey (capt.) 3 Jordon Power 4 Jon Phelan 5 Brad Lester 6 Matt Murphy 7 Matt Heaton 8 Zac Coughlan 9 Tony Pomroy 10 Patrick Parfrey 11 Aidan McMullan 12 Emil Sehic 13 Alex Rogers 14 Bryce Thomassin 15 Jack Fitzpatrick

16 Martial Lagain 17 Alex Forrest 18 Keelan Chapman 19 Chris Browne 20 Conor Keys 21 Jamie Mackenzie 22 Dan Lantos 23 Brett Johnson

BC BEARS
1 Anthony Luca (capt.) 2 Alex Mascott 3 Cody McClary 4 Sam Clark 5 Craig McLaughlin 6 Brendan Kelliher 7 Josh Clarke 8 Admir Cejvanovic 9 Cody Rockson 10 Guiseppe du Toit 11 Manar Kulkhan 12 Cully Quirke 13 Brock Staller 14 Phil Mack 15 Gareth Marsden

16 Micha Govorchin 17 Nik Hildebrand 18 Adrian Longbone 19 Liam Chisholm 20 Kevin Leask 21 Jorden Sandover-Best 22 Doug Fraser 23 Crosby Stewart

Referee: Chris Assmus
Assistants: David Smortchevsky & Darren Hazlie