Airway Park – The fantastic firsts pounded the Clansmen into the pitch in Thursday’s premier men’s heavyweight bout.
The defending Labatt’s Cup provincial champions from the St. Albert Rugby Football Club staggered the Clan with five tries, two penalty kicks and three conversions for a unanimous 37-5 decision.
“We beat them pretty well. We beat them all over the field. It was a good game,” said veteran Paul Flynn after the team’s sixth consecutive victory against the Clan since losing the 2013 season opener to its longtime rivals. “It was classic St. Albert rugby tonight. We worked good in the forwards, sucked them in and then worked it out wide and scored tries. That’s how we do it.”
The combatants hugged it out during several skirmishes in a match that ended early when a Clan player suffered a leg injury and was transported by ambulance to a hospital.
In the first half, scrumhalf Lino Filisione was yellow carded for being a bad boy in the 24th minute and the firsts on top 17-0.
A Clan player was also sentenced to the sin-bin before the break for throwing a punch during a heated exchanged between players in front of the touch judge.
In the 17th minute, the Clan lost a player to a red card because of roughhouse tactics and the firsts leading 32-5.
After the match, the battle-scarred Brett Kelly had blood streaming down his nose after being vandalized by the Clan.
“I was pretty proud of the way you guys muscled up,” coach Simon Hill told the firsts in the post-game huddle. “You showed good hands under pressure. Overall it was an awesome performance but you probably need to bring the tackling down a little bit.”
Tries were scored by winger Joshua Oden, captain Orrin Farries and fullback Antony Fitch in the first half and second-row Jason Gagnier and winger Brad Angove, off a highlight reel behind-the-back pass from Adam Bontus, did the damage in the second half.
“It was scrappy at times but we pulled through with a few tries,” said Fitch, who kicked a penalty from in front of the posts in the fifth minute to open the scoring.
“We had a few good phases and played pretty clinical with the ball in the hands. It was an all-around good performance by the boys.”
Fitch, 21, also split the uprights on penalty two minutes into the second half and converted three tries overall.
“For myself it wasn’t about scoring points today, it was all about putting in a good performance for the boys,” said the man of the match.
Fitch worked in tandem with Filisione to set-up Farries’ try in the 20th minute.
Ten minutes later Fitch weaved his way into the try area after a St. Albert scrum in Clan territory and Filisione in the sin bin.
“I made a bit of a move and I was going to give it (to a teammate) and then a gap just opened up and I thought I would take it,” Fitch said.
It was his last hurrah wearing the SARFC red and blue colours before returning to Britain for his brother Simon’s wedding. Passport issues also played a role in his early departure before the season ends.
“This is the first game this year I’ve actually been pretty nervous. I didn’t want to let the boys down in my last game before I leave. I wanted to leave a lasting impression,” said Fitch, who flooded the SARFC fields with tears after his last match in St. Albert, 22-15 over the Calgary Saints on Aug. 8.
“It’s with mixed emotions really that I’m going home. I’ve spent the last four years of my life here. I came over as an immature teen and it feels like I've grown up a little bit over the years. This has been my home and it’s going to be upsetting leaving the boys,” added Fitch, a reliable kicker who has performed admirably at scrumhalf and standoff when needed. “St. Albert isn’t just an individual team. We’re brothers, we’re a family and I was just happy to put on a good performance for family.”
The firsts, winners of five in a row, will soldier on without Fitch with two matches left before the Ken Ann Cup playoffs kick off to determine the north rep at the Oct. 3 provincials at Ellerslie Rugby Park.
“We’re playing great right now. There is a lot of guys who are stepping up,” said Flynn, a hooker by trade who was propping against the Clan. “We’re a very deep team this year and it will be really, really interesting to see who the first 15 is come playoffs because it’s going to be a battle to get those spots.”
First place in the Alberta Cup table is up for grabs next Saturday, when the firsts (9-2-1, 10 bonus points) host the Calgary Hornets (9-2, 11 BP) at 4 p.m.
“We’re excited about the Hornets. That’s one of our last home games and let’s face it; it’s probably going to be the biggest game of the year,” said Flynn, 33. “We’ve beat them once all ready (24-19 May 30 in Calgary with Team Canada prop Andy Tiedemann in the lineup) but they’re top of the table right now so going into playoffs we have to beat them to kind of give us the confidence that we need to go in to know that we can win the provincial final again. It’s likely them in the final so if we beat them twice this year we’ve got a lot of mental strength going into that game, if we make it that far of course.”
The firsts scrum down against the last-place Strathcona Druids (1-10-1, six BP) in the Sept. 19 semifinals and the winner tackles the Clan (4-7, 10 BP) or Nor’Westers (5-5-1, four BP) in the Sept. 26 north final.
