A berth in the U21 men’s rugby final is at stake tonight for the St. Albert Dolphins.
Kickoff is 7 p.m. against the Strathcona Druids at Lynn Davies Rugby Park in Sherwood Park.
The Dolphins and Druids finished deadlocked in second spot at 2-1-1 after last week’s 24-24 stalemate at the St. Albert Rugby Football Club.
The Dolphins let leads of 19-0 in the first half and 24-17 with two minutes remaining slip away.
The winner will challenge the Clan (4-0) or Nor’Westers (1-3) for the Edmonton Rugby Union championship June 22 at 7 p.m. at Ellerslie Rugby Park.
The Labatt’s Cup provincial champions host their longtime rivals Saturday at the St. Albert Rugby Football Club.
The Alberta Cup premier men’s match between SARFC (1-1) and the Clan (2-0) kicks-off at 4 p.m.
The fantastic firsts, winners of back-to-back provincial crowns, are undefeated in their last sixth showdowns with the Clan since losing the 2013 season opener to the Airways Park-based rugby club at Ellerslie Rugby Park.
The St. Albert division one women are looking to bounce back from last weekend’s loss with a winning effort against Crude/West in the Edmonton Rugby Union.
Saturday’s kick-off is 4 p.m. at Ellerslie Rugby Park.
Crude/West is 0-2 and the first loss was 29-25 to St. Albert at the Nor’Westers Rugby Park.
St. Albert is 1-1 after dropping a 32-21 decision to the host Pirates (2-0).
Scores were 5-0 after the first quarter, 15-0 at halftime and 29-7 after three quarters.
It was 22-0 when Annie Boyd finished off a series of runs for good yardage by Brie Grey and Marcia Davis with 12 minutes left in the third quarter and Kiera Arndt converted the try.
The Pirates replied eight minutes later with a converted try for their fifth score of the match.
Davis and Michelle Marler busted loose with lengthy scoring runs in the last quarter and Arndt converted both tries as St. Albert trailed by eight.
Davis out-manoeuvred a defender in front of the five-metre line to scoot in untouched and Grey set up Marler’s try with a spirited dash past the halfway line.
The Pirates ended the match with a penalty kick.
The defending Digby Dinnie Cup provincial champions in third division men’s rugby have a big hole to dig out of from the bottom of the Edmonton Rugby Union table.
The St. Albert Rugby Football Club is 0-3 after losing Saturday’s rematch of the 2015 Edmonton Rugby Union final 22-5 at the Pirates Rugby Club.
The Pirates (4-0) posted 12 unanswered points after the thirds scored seven minutes into the third quarter to cut the deficit to 7-5.
Drew Grant’s run into the corner off the wing completed a series of passes to the outside deep in enemy territory. Matt Herod’s difficult conversion attempt from near the touchline fell just short of the posts.
Four minutes later, the Pirates picked off a pass around the SARFC 22-metre line and scored under the posts to make it 12-5. The conversion attempt was low and short.
The Pirates wrapped up the win with tries three minutes apart.
The match ended with about five minutes remaining after Aidan Zalasky suffered an upper-body injury.
Yellow-cards for sin-bin infractions were issued to Justin (Bomber) Armitt in the first quarter and to a Pirate after the team’s last try.
The Pirates opened the scoring with a long dash down the touchline and the thirds shorthanded on the wing. The conversion was successful with four minutes left until halftime.
Last year the thirds beat the Pirates, the 2014 Visser Cup champions, twice and the second win was 25-12 against the top playoff seed in the ERU final for a provincial berth.
The thirds are back on the pitch June 18 at the Lep/Tigers (1-1) at 2 p.m.
The Sturgeon Spirits ended their season as the Tier 2 consolation winners at the Alberta Schools’ Athletic Association championships last weekend in Lethbridge.
The metro Edmonton division two men’s finalists beat the Hunting Hills Lightning of Red Deer 27-24 to finish 2-1 in the eight-team draw.
Sturgeon kicked off the tournament with a 29-point loss to the Winston Churchill Bulldogs of Lethbridge, the eventual gold medallists, and the next match was a 12-point decision against the Lloydminster Barons.
Sturgeon finished 8-2-1 in league and provincials combined after going 8-1 as the division two champions (seventh metro banner in team history) and Tier 2 bronze medallists.
