The deck was stacked against St. Albert when the referee dealt the fantastic firsts two red cards in the opening 33 minutes in Saturday's playoff.
But the No. 1 premier men’s rugby team in Alberta beat the odds with a winning hand despite playing two players short against the jacked-up Strathcona Druids.
“It was an amazing effort by the 13 guys out there. I’m obviously proud of them. We really dug our shoes in,” said player/coach Clay Panga after the controversial 29-11 contest. “Those guys came to play and they almost got the better of us but the boys stuck in there. It was a great test for us. I saw a lot of character out of the boys.”
Panga didn’t pull any punches in the post-game huddle after the firsts outscored the Druids 17-0 in the second half of the Alberta Cup north semifinal at the St. Albert Rugby Football Club.
“Let’s be honest with ourselves here. Our season could’ve ended today,” he stressed. “It almost ended today by a team that wanted it more at the start. We let them do that, boys.”
The Druids (1-13-1), losers of 63-14 and 72-5 blowouts by the firsts to open and close the premier fixtures, came out swinging and the defending Labatt’s Cup provincial champions were willing dance partners. The teams started hugging it out at the three-minute mark, prompting the referee, a newcomer to Calgary from the Maritimes, to rule with an iron fist the rest of the match.
It was 11-5 Druids when Irish import Matt Sanderson, a strong presence in the centres, was kicked off the pitch over an incident that was a borderline sin-bin yellow card.
With seven minutes left in the half and the firsts in front 12-11, Brett Kelly, the blood and guts of the premier squad, was ejected over a questionable call as the hometown crowd hurled boos and catcalls at the referee.
The status of Sanderson and Kelly for the Ken Ann Cup north final Saturday against the Nor’Westers (4 p.m. at Ellerslie Rugby Park) was up in the air at press time. Red cards result in suspensions but teams can appeal and club officials are working diligently behind the scenes to build a case for reinstatement of Sanderson and Kelly for the rest of the playoffs.
Panga was reluctant to comment on the officiating.
“The referees have a hard job,” was all the first-year SARFC coach would say.
Orrin Farries, captain of the firsts, also tap-danced around the thorny issue of the officiating.
“I’m not even going to comment on how he refed the game today, so no comment on that front, but no matter how a ref refs the game you play to a whistle and you accept the calls, back up and (voice your displeasure) through your captain and just hope that there is a line of communication that’s coming through,” said Farries, who scored two tries in the win. “A lot of guys let the referee’s decisions get into their own style of play. They’ll stand up and complain about a call rather than just go out there and play rugby and from day one of learning rugby in high school or club or wherever you did learn it they never tell you to argue with the ref.”
However, Farries did admit Kelly’s red card “was one of the worst red cards I’ve ever seen.”
A rocky start by the firsts let to a chip-and-chase try by the Druids in the 10th minute.
Two minutes later, Jason Gagnier cracked the try line for the firsts and the Druids replied with penalty kicks from outside the 22-metre line in the 14th minute and the 40-metre line in the 16th minute to make it 11-5.
In the 19th minute, James Brown, a steady prop, suffered a season-ending lower body injury and was replaced by Jon Paradis.
The firsts regrouped after Sanderson’s red card and a try by Farries and a difficult conversion by Chad Monai-Brophy in the 30th minute put the firsts ahead to stay.
Panga also subbed himself on before the break to give the forwards a boost.
Early in the second half, New Zealand import Lino Filisone, a slick scrumhalf, finished off a five-metre scrum on a flip pass by Lucas Albornoz.
Albornoz’s try off Panga's thread-the-needle pass was converted by Monai-Brophy with 12 minutes to play.
Farries ended the match as the finisher on a big drive into the try area.
“It was a college drop-out effort in the first half and then in the second half we came out, pulled up our pants, put on our shoes and did what were supposed to do,” Farries said. “The first half it was like everyone had air in their heads. Nobody was focused. Composure was bad. Discipline was bad. I could go on about the stuff that was bad but we came through and with 13 guys, that’s two less than they had, we were able to meet the challenge. It was a lot of heart.”
Farries, 20, credits Panga’s presence in the lineup and fire and brimstone halftime pep talk for turning the team’s fortunes around.
“We needed to get a good yelling at because the heads were just in the clouds for the first half,” said the lanky flanker. “Until Clay subbed himself into the game, it seemed like there wasn’t control out there. There was a definitive lack of leadership, which coming from me as the captain makes me sound like I’m not doing my job, but I don’t know what the solution was for the first half. But having Clay out there in the second half really helped, especially after we lost Brent Kelly, one of the stalwarts of St. Albert. He’s one of those leadership guys that’s been around forever and gives his body and soul.
“It just made everyone realize that the Druids came to win and what it takes to win playoff rugby in Alberta. You just can’t underestimate your opponents. You always have to have the foot on the gas and never take it off.”
The firsts (12-2-1), unbeaten in nine matches as winners of eight in a row, will now battle the Nor’Westers (8-6-1) for their seventh Ken Ann Cup in eight years and a provincial berth. In league play the firsts prevailed 20-7 and 43-15 against a very good premier side.
“We’re in tight next week,” said Panga, 30. “I have a lot of respect for those guys. Their coach is really going to be drilling them hard this week so we’ll train hard and we’ll do the best we can to prepare and we’ll come out hopefully guns blazing.”
The Nor’Westers are a tough, respected, physical foe and are not as dirty as the Clansmen (4-11), who they thumped 41-25 in the semifinals.
“When we match their physicality we can not only meet them but just come over the top and dominate on that side of the game,” Farries said. “They’re probably going to retain their ball a lot and won’t use the kick game so much. Their French ten (standoff) is going to try and send guys on little loop lines too. We’re going to have to play them out wide and then challenge them in tight where it gets physical.”
