The only St. Albert rugby team with a winning record this year is counting down the days until the playoffs kick off.
The third division men are 3-1 with seven matches remaining in their bid to finish top four in the playoff pecking order in the Edmonton Rugby Union.
“Our goal is simply to make the playoffs in whatever position. We’re figuring we need to win eight games to do that and we’re three into that goal,” said veteran forward Eric Wynychuk after Saturday’s 29-12 decision over the Cold Lake Penguins (1-3) at the Leading Edge Fields.
It was the first match for the thirds after last month’s 30-0 drubbing by the division-leading Clansman (4-1) at Airways Park. Wynychuk described the loss as the team’s best showing of the season.
“We poured everything out we had. It was the most heart and effort we’ve had in a game. Everybody left that field hurting and to me that’s a game,” Wynychuk said of the loss.
“(Saturday) we had more cohesiveness with our game plan, which is what we’re working towards. That’s where we figure we need to be because the Clan is who we want to play again.”
St. Albert fielded a diverse line-up of first and second division talent, third division regulars and some impressive high school products.
“The third division is for the guys who should be out in the pasture, like myself, and for the up and comers so us older guys can teach them the game both on and off the field and share our experience,” Wynychuk said. “It’s a development side really. We sub everyone off and on in all positions because we need some of these younger guys to fill in, so they need game experience. For us old guys the skill is still there, it’s just our bodies aren’t.”
The thirds overcame a shaky start at home with 24 unanswered points after the Penguins marched into the try area in the eighth minute.
Leading up to the try was a rare miss by St. Albert standoff Andrew Marsden kicking a penalty from near the 22-metre line.
A prolonged defensive stand midway through the first half, highlighted by Johnny Moloney’s fierce tackling, kept the Penguins out of the try area.
In the 32nd minute, a second effort by Robert Blunden propelled the Grade 12 Bellerose Bulldog over the try line. Nathan Reis quarterbacked the scoring drive with some bursts of speed from his fullback position.
Eric Paton’s try and Stephen Ignace’s conversion closed out the first half. Paton finished off a gutsy forward push by Bellerose product Galen Pon after some slick running by Matt Herod put the thirds into scoring range.
“The first 20 minutes I don’t think we were playing to our calibre and then it started to click after that. We had more phase ball and we started to put some points on the board,” Wynychuk said.
The thirds pulled away in the second half on Moloney’s try off a penalty play outside the five-metre line following a Blundon run and Carter Hordyski’s sprint down the wing after a penalty deep in Penguins’ territory.
Angus MacDonald ended the affair with a try seven minutes after the Penguins converted their second score of the game.
Before the final whistle Wynychuk grappled with a foe in a pile of bodies, prompting the referee to lecture both players.
“I’ve just got to get my aggression out on the field,” said Wynychuk, 44.
The oldest player at the St. Albert Rugby Football Club after 50-something Gary Brow retired last year, Wynychuk is rucking and mauling in his 28th year of rugby.
“It’s like a drug. It’s just in my system. There is nothing else that matches it,” said the 1985 Paul Kane High School graduate. “I love the camaraderie of the sport and the physical aspect of the game.”
Wednesday the thirds host the Leduc Crude (2-3) at 7 p.m.
