Ellerslie Rugby Park – The better team won Saturday's provincial final, and it wasn't the St. Albert firsts.
The Calgary Hornets overpowered the 2010 champions 31-13 for their second Labatt's Cup in three years.
"It's a massive win," said a beaming Jon Pocock, the sturdy fullback and kicker for the Hornets. "Last year it was heart wrenching for us to lose in the semifinals and then to actually watch St. Albert win in Calgary [against the Canucks] was a big pill for us to swallow. We were thinking about that in the game today. It was extra incentive for us to win."
The loss was the third in four straight trips to provincials by St. Albert's premier men's rugby team.
"It's very disappointing to get all the way through to the final and lose," said a glum-looking Karim Lynch, a standout at fullback for St. Albert. "It shows how strong we are to get to the final four years in a row; it's just a shame we've only come out with one provincial title."
The rematch of the 2009 final wasn't as close or as exciting as the 24-22 triumph by the Hornets that derailed St. Albert's undefeated season.
"As a team we're stronger than in 2009. We're younger too. We have a few new faces that are hopefully going to be carrying through and winning championships for years to come," said flanker Mike Hurd, one of six Hornets remaining from their last championship-winning line-up. "In 2009 we had a few really great rugby players and they would just take it on their shoulders and carry the team. But this year it just wasn't on one person's back. We really put out a team game today."
Costly penalties
St. Albert's major downfall was penalties.
"Our discipline killed us. We were our own enemy at the end of the day. We gave too many penalties to the opposition and then they punished us," Lynch said. "The referee wasn't on our side the whole game either."
Referee David Hunter penalized the firsts with an iron fist.
"The whole game we were getting penalized quite harshly by the referee and when you're getting penalized that hard, you're going backwards and losing territory. You can't win when they're down in your zone and you're playing defence for a good part of that 60 minutes," said head coach Chal Smyth with a shrug of his shoulders. "Granted, the Hornets are a good team but we deserved a better fate."
The Hornets started the scoring in the fifth minute with a penalty kick by Pocock.
Five minutes later, Duncan Maguire pulled down a high pass near the 22-metre line from Mark (Percy) Langford after a romp through the middle by Chris Ealey. Maguire raced down the touchline unchallenged into the try area as the St. Albert supporters roared their approval.
After Pocock and St. Albert's Matt Herod traded penalty kicks during a five-minute span, Hornets' captain Dustin McPherson split the defence with a determined run in the 26th minute.
The first half wound down with a parade of penalties against St. Albert, including a couple in prime scoring positions. Pocock also missed a penalty kick from outside the halfway line.
Halftime advantage
At the break it was 13-8. The Hornets enjoyed a big edge in ball possession and territorial advantage in the opening 40 minutes.
"It was tight in the first five or 10 minutes but after that our fitness and skill levels took over," said Pocock, 28. "At halftime we said we needed to keep on doing what we're doing and that was hard work, cohesiveness and playing with your mates. That, in a nutshell, is why the Hornets are the champions of Alberta."
In the first minute of the second half, Pocock missed the posts from outside the 22.
A few minutes later, Lynch rattled a Hornet with a try-saving tackle as the firsts struggled to keep up to the lads in yellow and black.
After a brief melee following a lineout steal by St. Albert, the Hornets were awarded another in a long line of penalties, much to the chagrin of the firsts and their fans in the 54th minute. Pocock split the uprights from outside the 22, then jestered towards the well-lubricated St. Albert crowd.
In the 58th minute, after another Lynch tackle to keep the Hornets out of the try area, Pocock made it 19-8 with another penalty kick that left several St. Albert players shaking their heads in disbelief.
A forward-driven effort by St. Albert off a deep lineout ball in the 59th minute cut the deficit to six points as Lynch bullied his way into the try area. Herod just missed the posts on the conversion.
Back-breaking tries
The Hornets stormed back with a devastating push for points that left the firsts pinned with their backs to the try line. After a five-metre scrum, the Hornets punched their way in and Pocock's conversion extended the lead to 13 points.
"We battled hard today. We were in it for probably 60 minutes and then we started to fall apart. We started making mental mistakes. We couldn't win all of our set pieces and lineouts and scrums and they made us pay for our own mistakes," Smyth said.
On the ensuing kick-off after the Hornets' try, Clayton Panga stepped out of a tackle by Ealey and waltzed into the try area to seal the deal.
"In the second half we felt we had them, especially with that try on the sideline [by Panga], when we walked in like that," said Hurd, 30. "But hats off to St. Albert. We played really hard and they really stepped up. They really showed heart and didn't give up.
"Hopefully we'll meet them again in the final next year."
With the outcome a done deal, both teams were carded for sin-bin infractions. Herod was also carded after throwing the ball at the ref in frustration following another St. Albert penalty in injury time.
"After they went up 26-13 [in the 66th minute] we just lost our cool and our composure and they executed on a lot of the penalties we took because of it," Smyth said.
The firsts never got going offensively against a tenacious Hornets' defence.
"We were always playing catch up. We had glimpses of showing all our talent when we went wide and used the ball but we couldn't get any clean ball," said Lynch, 23, who spent most of the match trying to kick the firsts out of dangerous field positions. "The Hornets deserved to win. We were just out-strengthened."
Tough to beat
The loss was the fourth in a row to the Hornets, dating back to the 2009 final. The playoff defeat also halted an 11-game winning streak by the 11-4 firsts.
"It was a hard-fought game. Everybody on our team played extremely well, especially the forwards," said Pocock of the 13-2 Hornets.
The firsts dressed nine players who were on the 22-man provincial line-up in St. Albert's historic 33-17 conquest of the Calgary Canucks in last year's final. Six players were also on the 2009 team that lost to the Hornets.
Not listed on Saturday's roster because of injuries were starting forwards Kyle Gilmour and Dominic Jenni. Scrum-half Jake Robinson also missed the final because of holidays.
"It's special when you can make it to provincials one year but it's really special when you make it four years in a row," Smyth said after only the 10th loss in 61 matches by the firsts under his watch. "The boys should be proud of themselves. Every year we lose some key players and we just keep coming back as one of the top teams in the province. You've got to be proud of what we've done in the last four years."
