Leduc – St. Albert's second 15 have a score to settle after losing Saturday's playoff preview against the defending Lor-Ann Cup champions.
"I'm not worried about today's result. I'm confident when we meet them in the playoffs, we'll do business," said outside centre David Owen after the seconds bowed out 41-29 to the Leduc Crude. "They're the provincial champions and we lost by 12 points. That was the worst we could've possibly played all season. Everything went against us today: the ref, the odd decision, the odd bounce. It's frustrating."
The loss put the brakes on a five-game winning streak in the Edmonton Rugby Union's second division.
"No disrespect to Leduc — they played very well today and they deserved to win — but we didn't perform that well," said Owen, who tore apart Leduc's defensive line for four tries. "We were losing a lot of our own ruck balls, turning mauls over and losing lineouts. We were our own worst enemy, to be honest, because we still did enough to compete today."
The win lifted Leduc into first place at 6-4. St. Albert is third at 5-3 with two games in hand.
"It's going to get better for us. We lost three or four boys to the first team today [in Calgary] and when we get those key players back, we're only going to get stronger," Owen said.
Leduc ended last season with 14 straight wins, including a convincing 39-15 playoff result against St. Albert in the J.W. Shaw Cup league final.
"Leduc is definitely a big threat in this league. They're strong up front. They have a decent back line. A good goal kicker. I see why they're champions," Owen said.
In late June, the seconds stunned Leduc with a come-from-behind 24-13 decision in St. Albert after trailing by eight at the break.
Slow start
In the rematch, Leduc opened the scoring with a converted try in the fifth minute, kicked a penalty from outside the 22-metre line in the seventh minute and, three minutes later, scored off a lineout ball from inside the 22 against a shell-shocked St. Albert squad.
"To go 17 points down within 10 minutes, we can't afford to do that. That's like the second or third game we've done that now. We just can't keep coming back from it," Owen said. "We were constantly chasing the game and it showed how we were playing. We were rushing everything. We were frantic. We lost our shape. We weren't setting targets and using the phase play."
Credit the seconds for soldiering on instead of folding their tents in despair. They quickly closed the gap on power runs by Owen for tries in the 13th and 22nd minutes. Ashley Hanson kicked both conversions.
A big romp by eight-man Graham Noren past the 22 set the stage for the first try.
On the next try, Noren and winger Nate Reis broke loose for dangerous runs, leading up to a perfect lineout ball from Jared McKinnon to a leaping Dan Zimmerman outside the five-metre line. After a crash ball by captain Sean LeLacheur that left a hole in Leduc's defence, Owen banged his way into the try area.
Five minutes later, Leduc replied with a converted try despite a tough goal-line stand by the seconds.
Leduc's last try before the break was an uncontested run from outside the 22 through several arm tackles. The conversion made it 31-14.
The first half ended with a sneaky pass by Justin (Bomber) Armitt to Owen, who grabbed the ball on the fly with one hand near the 22 and raced in for his third try. Hanson missed the conversion.
Eight minutes into the second half, Leduc barely scored on a play in which the seconds argued they held the ball up in the try area but the referee ruled otherwise. The convert made it 38-19.
In the 51st minute, Owen shredded Leduc's defence off a penalty play from outside the 22 for his fourth try. Hanson was unlucky on the conversion.
Man of the match
Owen, 30, was St. Albert's best player for the second straight match. Every time the Welsh Bullet ran with the ball, he dragged several defenders in his path before getting gang tackled.
Owen was a major contributor when St. Albert captured the Lor-Ann Cup provincial title in 2007. The five-foot, six-and-one-half-inch — "Please don't forget the half," he joked — standout took last year off to recharge his batteries.
"Physically I feel great. Definitely the year off did me good mentally. I've been playing rugby since I was a little kid. I feel fitter, faster and stronger than ever. Mentally I'm enjoying my rugby more than I ever have and I think it's showing. I'm enjoying playing and I want the ball all the time," said the project manager engineer for Graham Construction.
With 25 minutes remaining, an alert Simon Rowe picked off a ball in enemy territory. His pass to Hanson was quickly flipped to Braedon Platten streaking down the left wing for a try. Hanson was a few inches wide of the posts on the conversion as the seconds closed to within nine points of Leduc.
With momentum on their side, the seconds cranked up the heat offensively but were denied points on a close call at the try line and knock-on during a sequence of ferocious action with about 10 minutes to play.
The nasty affair ended on a successful penalty kick by Leduc after Hanson was sent to the sin bin for rough play.
"In the second half, we settled down. We had a good chat at halftime and things went a lot better," Owen said. "Once we put the ball together, we started hitting targets and making phases. When we kept the ball alive we scored tries."
On tap for the seconds is the Fort McMurray Knights (4-4). Kickoff is 2 p.m. Saturday in St. Albert.
SCRUM BALLS: St. Albert's first 15 extended their winning streak to six games in Saturday's 26-17 victory against the Calgary Saints (5-2-1). The 2010 premier provincial champions (6-3) host the Strathcona Druids (4-4-1) Saturday at 4 p.m.
Led by several young players, St. Albert's third division team crushed Leduc (3-7) on the road 58-12. The next game for the thirds (4-5) is Friday against the Lep/Tigers (2-7) at 7 p.m. at Ellerslie Rugby Park.
