Airways Park – Last year's provincial champions are not pushing the panic button despite a winless record after two disturbing losses in Alberta Cup men's rugby.
"I don't think losing two in a row is that big of a deal," said standoff Ashley Hanson after the Clansmen scored on the last play of the game to defeat St. Albert 25-20 Saturday. "It's very, very early in the season. We've got some guys coming back to shore up the team in some key positions. I'm confident this team will compete for a title again."
The previous weekend against the Druids of Strathcona, the first 15 fell behind by 26 points early in the second half and lost 29-17.
"Things could've gone differently last week and this week and we could've been 2-0. Unfortunately we're 0-2," Hanson said. "Things haven't gone our way but we're definitely moving in the right direction. Last week was terrible. This week was a lot better."
The turnaround from one of the worst performances by the firsts since rejoining the premier ranks in 2008 almost ended with a comeback victory against the Clan.
"We let ourselves down and obviously we let the coach down so we owed everyone a good performance this week," Hanson said. "We did ourselves and everyone proud today coming in here. [The Clan field] is a tough place to play with the conditions here but we held them close. Unfortunately it didn't go our way again."
Comeback charge
Down by 10 points and both teams a man short because of sin-bin infractions, Brett Kelly bulldozed his way into the try area on sheer will and strength in the 61st minute to cut the lead in half. Only a sniper's bullet was going to stop the determined Kelly after reeling in a pass from Quinn Brophy from a deep scrum inside Clan territory.
Five minutes later the Clan restored their 10-point advantage by grinding out a score after the firsts stopped them short of the try line with a gutsy defensive stand.
In the 71st minute and both sin-bin players back on the field, including Irish import Johnny Moloney at eight-man for the firsts, Duncan Maguire busted loose for a sizeable run towards the try line. A scrum ensued after the speedy back was sent sprawling by a nasty tackle. From in front of the five-metre line, Brophy pitched the ball to Graham Noren and the long-time prop lumbered into the try area. Noren, a second half sub, played in the previous game that day for the seconds in their 32-3 season-opening loss to the Clan.
Three minutes after the try, a promising run into contact by Matt Herod set off a chain reaction as Kelly and Moloney took turns pushing the ball forward for Hanson to finish off the drive to tie the match.
"They did really well to come back and tie the game up at 20-all," said Warren de Bruin, the Clan's standoff. "It was just a lapse in confidence on our part."
Kicking into a brutal wind, Hanson missed the posts after his try to go 0-for-4 on conversions.
"The wind was difficult to judge either way. It wasn't really straight and it just wasn't going well for us," Hanson said. "I don't think we fully utilized the wind in the first half. We had the opportunity to build up momentum and I took a few shots at goal [in the sixth and 31st minutes] and missed."
At halftime the firsts trailed 8-5. The Clan opened the scoring in the 15th minute on an overlap after a lineout ball outside the St. Albert 22-mete line. Four minutes later, Maguire orchestrated the game-tying try with his hands and feet. The Clan regained the lead with a short penalty kick in the 39th minute.
Nine minutes into the second half, the Clan broke the try line off a five-metre scrum. The conversion put them up by 10.
Credit the firsts for mounting a valiant comeback attempt when they could have thrown in the towel.
"The boys dug in very deep. In the second half the performance was probably one of the best I've been involved with at this club and we've had a few successful seasons," Hanson said. "The heart the boys showed today was fantastic."
After the try by Hanson the Clan buckled down and once they got possession of the ball they gradually pushed the firsts back towards their try line before Tom Walker slipped through the defensive line for the game winning points.
"We just cut our errors. We set up phase after phase and with the forward ball we got we kept the momentum and it eventually opened up a hole for a try," de Bruin said.
Late try
Once the firsts lost possession of the ball after the kickoff following the score by Hanson, they never got it back.
"We put the pressure on them on the kickoff. We took the ball but unfortunately conceded a scrum and then they were allowed to spin the ball wide and they kept on going," Hanson said. "I don't think it was a lack of effort or any lack of skill; they just took advantage of a good situation for them and a bad situation for us."
After the traditional post-game handshakes, de Bruin breathed a sigh of relief when asked to sum up the seesaw affair.
"It was really tough. Both sides are under-strength this early in the season and we were just lucky to come out with the win today right at the end. It was just the bounce of the ball," said the Edmonton Rugby Union's senior player of the year in 2010.
In their season opener the Clan suffered a shocking 31-18 loss to the Lep/Tigers, traditional first division doormats.
"From last week against the Leps, our big thing was to work hard. Our motto for today was don't be lazy. The guys we're getting off their feet and ready for the next tackle and ready for the next phase," said de Bruin, 28. "It's still early in the season so we've got to take what we can at this point in time. We needed a win after that loss last weekend and we're just happy to get a win today."
The eighth loss in 48 matches by the firsts marked the first time they suffered back-to-back defeats since moving up to premier after their 2007 provincial second division championship.
"It's been very difficult getting off to a fast start in the season," said Hanson, 30, the co-MVP of the firsts in 2007 who took a year off from rugby last season.
The next match for the firsts is their May 28 home debut against the rugged Calgary Hornets (2-0). Kickoff is 4 p.m. at the Leading Edge Physiotherapy Fields.
