A series of makeup games + rescheduled makeup games brought rugby action to the shores of Burnaby Lake on Easter Weekend. Being the only game in town that weekend also brought rugby fans from as far away as the exotic + mysterious land known as Abbotsford.
The games would decide which club would hold claim over the Palmer Cup in 2013.
The Palmer Cup is dedicated to the late, great Burnaby Lake Alum Doug “The Bear” Palmer. Doug tragically passed away in France while on tour with the guys, cheering on Canada at the 1999 World Cup. The Bear also had an affiliation to the Meraloma Rugby Club. The results of the regular season games between our 2 clubs are tallied to crown the winner. The club with the most wins takes the cup. After a decade of dominance by the Lomas, the BLRC have had possession of the Palmer Cup for the past 2 years. The results from the 1st half matches saw the BLRC up 2 wins to 0, meaning that the first Blue + White win of the day would return the Palmer Cup back to the BLRC trophy case. With injuries, work schedule interference + holidays taking their toll on both clubs, the day would be a war of attrition, perhaps decided by the last man standing… or maybe that’s too dramatic.
BLRC 3 Whites 19 – Meralomas 32
The win was not to be had at the 11:30 game. Both BLRC 3rd div captains were unavailable on Saturday and the lack of direction showed. The BLRC faced a determined Loma squad who had banded together to play a hard game. The BLRC 3rds started flat and just couldn’t get it together. What is normally a well drilled team seemed to force plays that didn’t seem to need forcing. The results were big runs ended with knock-ons in the end zones, or no look passes to the fans on the sidelines. The Lomas scored early + consistently and the final score was reflective of the play. Blake Barnert was once again a positive force in the BLRC back row, and BLRC vets Scott Breadon + Dan Schinbien were reliable tacklers and play makers in the backs. We also welcomed back from injury, Brendan “Butters” Fairs who should help to fill some holes in our backfield.
BLRC 1st div 37 – Meralomas 6
The BLRC 1st div has had a run of fairly one sided games recently. The parity that has emerged in the CDI, has not transferred over to the Ceili’s Cup Competition. Scott McGinley + the Lomas showed up ready to play and to prove that the Lomas are not one of the (many) “top heavy clubs” prevalent in our league.
The first half would end 8-6, in favour of the home side with penalty kicks and an unconverted try from the BLRC. During the half time break, Coach Murphy urged his team to stop forcing plays that weren’t there, and to stop trying to score off of the 1st phase. The players would heed his call. With Captain Alec Douglas and veterans like Preston Petrovich and Brad McHugh hammering the Lomas in the forwards and Nolan Shelley controlling the backline, the BLRC would put up 29 unanswered 2nd half points. VP Fisher would cause some damage through the centers on attack, scoring 2 of the BLRC tries and his tag team partner Barry Bonnell made his presence felt every time the Lomas backs were on attack. It was a tough game. The sternest test the BLRC 1sts have faced in a long time and I know the coaches will go into Tuesday with some things to work on but secure in the knowledge that this team can lock it down + gut out a win when needed.
This win secured the Palmer Cup for Burnaby Lake for another year. The BLOBS (Burnaby Lake Old Boys) gathered around the bar at the back of the BLRC clubhouse to rejoice and toast a fallen friend.
BLRC Premier Men 69 – Meralomas 7
While every team in the CDI goes into every game confident that a win can be earned that day, the final score line was surprising to say the least. The November contest was won by the BLRC, but was decided by only 5 points.
The game started off rather slowly with both teams utilizing their kicking to earn field position. An early bright spot for Burnaby Lake was the hard inside running of Steve “White Lightning” Batie who made his return at inside center after spending the last 3 years on the wing. He bowled over a few would-be defenders during his team’s first march into enemy territory. At the 5 minute mark, Evan Thomas, who is playing fantastic ball lately, would take a pass from Joe Dolseau and dive into the end zone for the first points of the day. The conversion would fall short, but the BLRC were off to the races!
On the kickoff, a BLRC penalty would give the Lomas a shot at goal from the 22m line, but Wilson was off on the kick and the score remained 5-0 for BLRC through 8 minutes.
At the 10 minute mark, the BLRC would find some momentum when a Loma penalty led to a BLRC lineout inside the opposition 22. James Reekie would move the ball from the forwards all the way to the outside where Matt Alexander made a mad dash for the line, but was stopped just short. Big Micha Govorchin would be the recipient of a short pass from De Guzman and would crash over for the try. Reekie converted to make the score 12 to 0
The turning point would occur minutes later. After a sustained Loma attack inside the BLRC half, Joe Dolesau would make amends for an earlier knock-on, with a huge hit on the Meraloma #12. The ball was spilled forward and into the hands of Admir Cejvanovic who would take it from the BLRC 10m line all the way to the house. Reekie converted. 19-0. from here, the Blue + White never looked back.
Admir scored his 2nd a few minutes later after a long maul and a few nifty offloads through the backline. Reekie would convert and then Dolesau would take a pass from Scott Plummer on the ensuing kickoff all the way down for a converted try.
With about 5 minutes left to play in the half, a BLRC maul would slice through the Loma pack like a butchers knife, moving the ball from the half inside the Loma 10m line. The ball would move from Micha, to Reekie to Dolesau, who finger tipped it to Thomas who sky-hooked a pass to Matt Alexander who would touch down between the posts! Reekie would convert and that was the half. HALF TIME SCORE:BLRC 40 – Meralomas 0
The 2nd half started with the kickoff going straight into the hands of Admir Cejvanovic who would bull through a few tacklers before passing to Dolesau on the fly. Burnaby Joe made a few tacklers miss before offloading to a trailing Admir… who made it another 10 yards before popping to a supporting Joe. Dolesau fixed his man before tossing the ball to Thomas for the try. Reekie hit the conversion. 47 to 0.
The Lomas looked to gain some momentum when a series of BLRC penalties led to a 5 minute goal line stand, but the BLRC were finally able to force the Meralomas out of bounds without conceding a point.
The game would slow down for much of the 2nd half. Subs were made on both sides, the BLRC were assessed 19 unanswered penalties which lead to a converted Loma try and that seemed to reignite the Blue + White. Evan Thomas grabbed the ball at the Loma 10 and scored the hat trick when he danced + stiff armed his way in to the end zone. Nate Mantle would follow that up by bowling over for another try. Matt Alexander would finish off a long phase in the corner for his 2nd try of the match. Finally, James Reekie would split the defense at the half and outrun the opposition into the end zone making the score 69 to 7… where it would end.
The BLRC would like to thank the 3 Meralomas sides that made the trip to Burnaby on Saturday. We’d also like to thank the BCRRS for allowing the games to happen on the Easter Weekend, and the many fans + supporters who came down to support BC Rugby on a sunny afternoon.
www.burnabylakerugby.com
Many Teams~One Club
