St. Albert is double trouble in men's rugby as a provincial threat in both the first and second divisions.
Saturday's 24-12 takedown of the Clansmen was the eighth win in a row by the third-place premier team in the Alberta Cup table.
Several players in the first 15 also made significant contributions in Thursday's 16-14 nasty affair against the Clan as the seconds improved to 8-1 in their last nine games.
The firsts and seconds have identical 8-3 records with one game remaining before the playoffs.
"We're the best club in the city right now. We're also the best club in the province right now too and that's our goal. We don't play for second. We don't play for third. We play to be the best," declared Matt Herod, the St. Albert Rugby Football Club president, after kicking three conversions and one penalty for the Labatt's Cup provincial champions Saturday. "Our mentality is win them all; our division, cities and provincials."
The firsts had few wrinkles to iron out with seven starters not dressed. The absentee list included five players involved in the Canadian Rugby Championship circuit — Adam Bontus, Kyle Gilmour, Duncan Maguire and Jake Robinson with the Prairie Wolf Pack and Kyle Baillie with Atlantic Rock — plus injured forwards Brett Kelly and Ben Robinson.
Playing instrumental roles while pulling double duty in both wins were unsung forwards Mark Dewes, Stephen Ignace, Pat Whitehead, Preston Petrovitch and Sean LeLacheur, captain of the seconds.
David Owen, the centre of attention in the centres, also gutted the Clan's defence for two tries after he was shut out of the try area Thursday.
"Seven starters who usually would've stepped on this field were out today and that just shows how deep St. Albert is," said Herod, 30, who went the distance at scrum-half for the firsts after subbing on for the seconds with 25 minutes to play Thursday and St. Albert on top 11-7. "It don't matter who is on the field, we can play at any level."
Beating their bitter rivals twice in three days made Saturday's post-game celebration extra special.
"We started this actually on Wednesday. Our U17s knocked the Clan out of the playoffs. That kind of set the momentum Thursday and obviously it carried over today," Herod said. "We have momentum moving forward. From here on out, we've got an eye on the seconds and firsts winning the city and provincial championships."
Saturday's combatants were tied in points at 37, seven back of the division leading Calgary Hornets (9-2), prior to locking horns in St. Albert. The firsts are now three points shy of first place.
"The vibe before this game was massive," said British import Chris Ealey. "Against the Clan it's always a big game, isn't it? It's big rivalry, especially this late in the league. That gives us eight wins in a row now so it boosts our confidence going into our final game and then into the playoffs."
The 21-year-old outside-centre from south London was completing his studies at the University of Portsmouth when the firsts dropped a 25-20 decision to the Clan in early May. After the firsts pulled even during a spirited comeback, the Clan scored the winning try on the last play of the game.
"The old boys [at the club] don't want to lose against the Clan, especially at home. You could see that in the crowd as well so it was a massive game. I'm just glad we did the job," Ealey said. "It was a tough ride but very enjoyable."
Sin bin penalties
Despite yellow cards to prop Luke Racine in the 35th minute and fullback Karim Lynch four minutes later, the firsts emerged still in control of the match.
"That was a big turning point. It showed our defensive strength," Ealey said. "After we got our players back on, we managed to get a few points on them."
It was 17-0 on Herod's penalty kick from the 22-metre line in the 15th minute, followed by converted tries by Lynch and Owen, when Racine was sent to the sin bin. On the next play, the Clan turned a deep scrum into a try.
Lynch joined Racine in the sin bin after levelling a player with a thunderous jolt of brute strength.
"I think we're all in agreement that was a pretty clean hit. The guy he hit was about 110 pounds and he folded him so it looked kind of bad, but that's Karim. He can hit a guy who is 220 and make it look that bad too," Herod said.
A stout defence held the Clan in check until both players served their sentences. A yellow card to Clan standoff Warren de Bruin four minutes into the second half also cut into the visitor's man advantage.
"You could really see the team come together when we were down two players. They could've exploited two holes and they couldn't find one of them. It was just the team playing as one," Herod said.
Back at full strength, the firsts hung tough around their 22 for a spell until a penalty to the Clan allowed Lynch to kick the ball deep down field. A knock-on led to a scrum outside the Clan 22. The ball was eventually spun out wide to Mark Langford and the British import dished it off to Owen, who called for the ball in front of the 22 and flew into the try area in the 62nd minute. The try was the 10th in six games by the Welsh Bullet.
Owen's first try on the hot afternoon in the 27th minute followed a kick for touch by Lynch at the five-metre line. After the ball was distributed out of the scrum, Ealey busted several moves with his big legs before launching a high pass for Owen to reel in. He was tackled short of the try line but crawled in for the score.
Another momentum shifter was Lynch's try after Herod's successful penalty kick. Lynch leaped into the air to field the ball on the St. Albert side of the halfway line and bolted through the Clan line and had only two defenders to beat. One slipped and the other wasn't fast enough to slow down last year's team MVP.
"The backbreaker was definitely Karim's try straight off the kickoff. He stepped past one man, stepped past another man. It was a great finish. The crowd loved it too," Ealey said.
A converted try by the Clan ended the game.
"The 12 points against is impressive. We're an offensive team, but the last couple of games, we haven't let in many," said Herod of the team's average of 11 points against during the eight-game winning streak. "It was teamwork today, but obviously having Karim at 15 was huge. You saw them break the line a couple of times at the end when we were definitely tired, but he is a calming effect in the back. He's going to make those hits. Obviously you could hear the crowd whenever he gets a lick on a guy."
The last game before the quarter-finals is Sept. 10 against the Lep/Tigers (4-7). Kickoff is 4 p.m. at Ellerslie Rugby Park.
