Rugby rivals St. Albert and the Clansmen lock horns today in the Alberta Cup fixtures at 4 p.m. at Airways Park.
It’s the first clash between the longtime antagonists since the July 5 punch-up at the Leading Edge fields. Five players, including three from the Clan, were red carded in the brawl-filled affair.
The Clan kicked a penalty on the last play of the game to win 18-16. It was the second triumph in three matches against St. Albert’s first 15 this year.
The firsts (5-6, seven bonus points) limp into their last match before the playoffs winless in three games. The 2011 provincial finalists trail the second-place Clan (6-4, six BP) by three points for a berth in the Sept. 22 north final.
The Clan plays the fourth-place Strathcona Druids (5-6, four BP) next week to end the fixtures.
The north semifinal is Sept. 8.
The Capital District Minor Football Association hosts an atom jamboree today at Riel Recreation Park.
The St. Albert Vikings are participating in the eight team mini-game format, from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the turf field.
The controlled scrimmages are approximately 45 minutes in length.
The St. Albert Men’s Soccer League playoffs kick off Sunday, with defending champion Blues FC playing SA City at 11 a.m. at Eldorado field in the group A round robin.
The Blues (7-5-4) finished fifth after placing third at 9-2-3 in their league debut. In the playoffs they went 4-0 while outscoring the opposition 20-2 as one of the youngest teams in SAMSL history to capture the playoff cup.
The top teams in the group A and B playoffs advance to the Sept. 9 semifinals. The final is Sept. 16.
The pennant-winning Rummies (15-0-1) and second-place GSE (11-1-3) earned byes into the semifinals. They will also represent SAMSL at Tier IV provincials, Sept. 1 to 3 at the ESA Complex.
Sunday’s semifinals in the St. Albert Women’s Soccer League start at 5 p.m.
In division one, Mavericks 09 (14-0) play the Lady Titans (8-8) and the Morinville Ladies (11-4) tackle the Goal Diggers (9-7) at Forest Park field.
In division two, SA Force (14-0-1) battles the Devils (6-6-3) and the Snipe (7-6) go against Gini’s (2-7-4) at Eldorado field,
The finals are Sept. 9 at Eldorado.
Meanwhile, the Mavericks will represent SAWSL at Tier IV provincials, Sept. 1 to 3 at the ESA Complex. Two years ago at provincials in Calgary they finished fourth overall. The last SAWSL team to medal at provincials was Morinville winning bronze in Tier IV in 2005.
