The last home game of the year at the St. Albert Rugby Football Club kicks off today at 4 p.m. between the St. Albert firsts, the reigning Labatt’s Cup provincial champions, and the Lep/Tigers in the premier men’s playoffs.
The winner will scrum down against the Clansmen or the Strathcona Druids next Saturday at Ellerslie Rugby Park to determine the Edmonton Rugby Union qualifier for the Oct. 1 provincial final against the Calgary Rugby Union rep. The final will also be staged at Ellerslie.
St. Albert’s first 15 have competed in the last three provincials finals. In the Alberta Cup table St. Albert (9-3) finished third and the Lep/Tigers (4-8) placed eighth out of 10 teams.
The ninth win in a row by St. Albert was a sloppy 35-17 decision against the Lep/Tigers last weekend at Ellerslie. At home in July, St. Albert beat up the Lep/Tigers 51-5.
St. Albert battles the 2010 provincial champion Leduc Crude today in the Edmonton Rugby Union semifinals. Game time is 1 p.m. in Leduc.
Last year Leduc knocked off St. Albert 39-15 in the ERU final for the J.W. Shaw Cup. The 2011 final goes next Saturday at Ellerslie. The provincial final is Oct. 1 at Ellerslie.
Leduc and St. Albert shared second place in the ERU standings with eight wins and four losses, but the Crude had two more bonus points to secure the home playoff berth.
In league play both teams won at home: 24-13 by St. Albert and 41-29 by Leduc. The Crude haven’t lost at home in more than two years.
CSKA Blues FC and SA United advanced to Sunday’s final in the St. Albert Men’s Soccer League after posting identical 2-1 victories in Tuesday’s semifinals at Eldorado field.
Kickoff is 3 p.m. at Riel Park. In case of rain, the final will be played at the Riel Park turf field at 6 p.m.
CSKA (9-2-3) and United (6-6-2) finished third and fourth, respectively, in the regular season fixtures.
United is making its second straight trip to the final. Last year Arsenal blanked United 2-0 for the playoff cup.
In one semifinal Chris Normandeau scored United’s game winner against first-place Chester City (10-2-2) with three minutes to play. Player/coach Darren Rosin also scored. Scott Bohachyk replied for Chester.
Two goals by Benjamin Goncalves lifted CSKA past second-place GSE (10-3-1) in the other semifinal. Terry Esposito scored for GSE. Both teams are newcomers to the league.
