Bears hold off resurgent Rock

The BC Bears came away 20-13 winners over the Atlantic Rock in Canadian Rugby Championship action on Sunday but not without a late scare. Two tries in the final minutes of the match gave the Eastern regional side a fighting chance with a bizarre decision to kick away possession with time expired allowing the Bears a sigh of relief.

What looked as though could be a one-sided affair started as badly as possible for the Rock, with BC prop Neil Courtney finishing off a flowing attacking move to score inside two minutes of the opening kickoff. Simple handling put the Bears in range and Dustin Dobravsky’s one-handed offload back inside found his man on the inside for the score.

Cooper Coats responded for the responded for the Rock with a straight-forward penalty goal from in front of the posts but it would not be a memorable day for the Halifax Tars prospect, missing three shots at goal including one of the routine variety. As has often been the case for the Rock it was more ‘what ifs’ at the final whistle.

A simple lineout drive was enough to pull the defense out of shape and quick hands found Brock Staller in space and over the line. Guiseppe du Toit couldn’t land the conversion but added a long-range penalty goal before the break to give his side a solid but unconvincing 10-point lead.

After a dour period of nearly half-an-hour that saw neither team score the deadlock was broken by Sean Ferguson, who had replaced Staller at the interval. Once again the Rock defense was sucked in, this time through phase play. A wide cut-out pass from Doug Fraser reeled in Dan Lantos and with the Rock winger now stuck in no-man’s land it was a simple catch and pass for Paul Ahn to Ferguson to finish the score with no defenders in sight.

Despite the three-score lead the match was not won just yet, however. As in Truro the Rock desperation yielded points. First a Charles DeBove break put Brett Johnson clear down the left wing. Next it was Moe Abdelmonem who found the line. Making a mighty impact as a halftime substitute, the flanker was met by two Bears front rowers on the line but had the strength to keep his feet and reach over and touch the ball down for the try.

With time winding down the Rock won an attacking lineout and the Bears were reeling from the pressure. A massive hit from Fraser blindsided Abdelmonem but the ball came out quickly to Paddy Parfrey. Perhaps seeing something that wasn’t on, the flyhalf overlooked three men outside him to put the boot to ball. Gavin Rowell was across to cover and easily gathered and cleared to end the match.

With that the Bears will contest the MacTier final for the first time since 2009, regardless of the outcome of their last round-robin match against the Ontario Blues on Wednesday. For the Rock, it’s more disappointment but two matches against the Prairie Wolf Pack to find success in their 2017 campaign.

 

SCORING

BEARS 20
Tries – N. Courtney (2’), B. Staller (23’), S. Ferguson (64’)
Cons – G. du Toit 1/3 (65’)
Pens – G. du Toit 1/1 (36’)
Yellow cards – A. Luca (30’), A. McLelland (68’)

ROCK 13
Tries – B. Johnson (72’), M. Abdelmonem (76’)
Cons – D. Lantos 0/1, C. Coats 0/1
Pens – C. Coats 1/3 (12’)
Yellow cards – C. Keys (33’), C. Coats (62’)

 

TEAMS

BC BEARS
1 Anthony Luca (capt.) (18 Blake van Heyningen 58’), 2 Andrew Lackner (17 Paul Ahn 60’), 3 Neil Courtney (16 Noah Barker 51’), 4 Cam Polson, 5 Connor Weyell (20 Shea Wakefield 50’), 6 Luke Campbell (19 Tua Va’a 6’), 7 Jordan Reid-Harvey, 8 Dustin Dobravsky, 9 Phil Mack (22 Gavin Rowell 65’), 10 Harjun Gill, 11 Karsten Leitner, 12 Guiseppe du Toit, 13 Mike Nieuwenhuysen (23 Doug Fraser 51’), 14 Brock Staller (21 Sean Ferguson HT), 15 Aaron McLelland

ATLANTIC ROCK
1 Alex Forrest (17 Frank Walsh 51’), 2 Martial Lagain (16 Owen Parfrey 50’-53’, 60’), 3 Jordon Power (18 Jake Chahwan 60’), 4 Jon Phelan, 5 Brad Lester, 6 Conor Keys (19 Lucas Hotton 73’), 7 Liam Carter (20 Moe Abdelmonem HT), 8 Mike Hamson, 9 Tony Pomroy (21 Graham Barry 53’), 10 Patrick Parfrey (capt.), 11 Jack McCarthy (23 Dan Lantos 60’), 12 Emil Sehic, 13 Charles DeBove (22 Colin Alexander 73’), 14 Brett Johnson. 15 Cooper Coats

 

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Robin Kaluzniak
Assistants: David Crisp & Doug Hamre