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A remarkable finish to a bizarre match in Calgary saw the Ontario Blues fall agonizingly short to the BC Bears by 34-31 at Calgary Rugby Park on Wednesday. What made the result extraordinary was the 31-0 halftime score in favor of the Bears. The two teams were fielding largely reserve sides and it was the Bears who looked immeasurably more composed in the opening forty.
Guiseppe du Toit struck first with a penalty goal before New Zealand-born speedster Aaron McLelland ripped through for a brace of tries. The first came from simple hands and an outside break and the second on an arcing run with nary a finger laid on him. du Toit added both conversions and through the first quarter it was 17-0 to the Bears.
Ontario were nowhere to be found in the first half, and after Shea Wakefield got in behind the defense a cross-kick from du Toit connected with Reid Watkins. The winger looked to have slid in under the tackle but for some reason the officials decided the try was no good, instead sending Dan Moor to the bin for the high shot on Watkins. No matter. From the ensuing scrum Kevin Leask peeled of and was stopped just short but Phil Mack ripped and spun over the line to make the touchdown official.
Another yellow was brandished soon after to Mike Sheppard, this time for a neck roll clearout, and the Blues were down to only 13 men for five minutes before the half. Another score was inevitable and it was Craig McLaughlin who got the credit, falling over the line in the middle of a driving maul to make it a five-score game at the break.
The Blues had seen enough and brought Andrew Ferguson and Kainoa Lloyd into the game to start the second half. The two internationals made an instant impression. With Ferguson now directing the attack Lloyd broke free and tore 35 metres up the pitch. A couple quick phases later Andrew Coe hit Marcello Wainwright with a short ball and Ontario were finally on the board.
No sooner had the flanker jogged back for the restart when he was over for his second. Johnny Sheridan found Moor on his outside on a wide move from a scrum and the Blues were back on the doorstep. It seemed as though Ferguson had left the ball behind in a tackle but the officials saw no knock-on. Wainwright snatched up the loose ball and powered over for the try, much to the bemusement of the Bears defenders.
Moor got one himself just after the hour mark, this time it was Wainwright supplying the one-handed offload to put the winger in space. With the Bears reeling and seemingly out on their feet, Moor found space on the outside and looked to have put Coe away but Kimi Vunituraga hauled him down from behind. The tackle was ruled high and the replacement winger’s match was over before it started. Andrew Wilson went over from the lineout drive and suddenly the contest was back on.
du Toit restored a two-score gap with a penalty goal but the Blues weren’t finished yet. Mike Nieuwenhuysen took out Coe with a hip-check off the ball and joined Vunituraga in the bin. With the Bears now down to 13 defenders the maul was effective once more and again it was Wilson over the line.
The restart was won by Ontario and they began to work their way forwards. As time expired an overlap was spotted and in came the ‘hot’ call, quick hands sending Lloyd through a gap. With Coe on his outside and nothing but daylight to the line the ball found its mark only for the pass to be ruled forward and with it the whistle for full-time.
It will be a rematch on Saturday but each lineup is set to be markedly different with the return of several international players. The Blues have lost their unbeaten record for the season but should still be favorites to lift the MacTier Cup for the sixth time, though the Bears will undoubtedly have something to say about that come the weekend.
SCORING
BEARS 34
Tries – A. McLelland 2 (10’, 15’), P. Mack (25’), C. McLaughlin (33’)
Cons – G. du Toit 4/4 (11’, 16’, 26’, 34’)
Pens – G. du Toit 2/3 (4’, 76’)
Yellow cards – K. Vunituraga (72’), M. Nieuwenhuyzen (78’)
BLUES 31
Tries – M. Wainwright 2 (45’, 49’), D. Moor (62’), A. Wilson 2 (73’, 79’)
Cons – A. Ferguson 3/5 (46’, 50’, 74’)
Pens – M. van der Westhuizen 0/1
Yellow cards – D. Moor (24’), M. Sheppard (30’)
TEAMS
BC BEARS
1 Blake van Heyningen (17 Anthony Luca 50’), 2 Paul Ahn (16 Andrew Lackner 61’), 3 Noah Barker (18 Neil Courtney 50’), 4 Craig McLaughlin (19 Cam Polson 54’), 5 Shea Wakefield (20 Connor Weyell 67’), 6 Tua Va’a (21 Dustin Dobravsky 11’), 7 Kevin Leask, 8 Travis Larsen, 9 Phil Mack (capt.) (22 Riley DiNardo HT), 10 Guiseppe du Toit, 11 Karsten Leitner (23 Kimi Vunituraga 63’), 12 Mike Nieuwenhuysen, 13 Doug Fraser, 14 Reid Watkins, 15 Aaron McLelland
ONTARIO BLUES
1 Pat Lynott (17 Rob Brouwer 71’), 2 AJ Quattrin (16 Eric Howard 65’), 3 Ryan Surgenor (18 Tom Dolezel 71’), 4 Paul Ciulini, 5 Mike Sheppard (19 Lucas Rumball 61’), 6 Marcello Wainwright, 7 Peter Milazzo (capt.), 8 Seb Pearson (20 Andrew Wilson 65’), 9 Mario van der Westhuizen (21 Andrew Ferguson HT), 10 Mitch Richardson, 11 Dan Moor, 12 Kyle Lagasca, 13 Andrew Coe, 14 Brandon McLeod (23 Kainoa Lloyd HT), 15 Johnny Sheridan
Not used: 22 Josh Campbell
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Doug Hamre
Assistants: Chris Assmus & Michael Jones
