On Saturday the Premier & 1st Div BLRC teams were good value for 2 victories over an injury ravaged Bayside Sharks squad.
The injury bug has bitten the sharks so hard that they had to default the 3rd division game.
Under the stewardship of Mike Pajic & Pat Kearney I’m sure brighter skies lie ahead for Bayside as all of their previous CDI encounters have been competitive.
*1st Division*
The BLRC 1st div started the day off with a 46-0 victory on the rain sodden fields of South Surrey. The BLRC pack dominated all aspects of the contact areas providing great ball for trailing forwards & the backs when the time was right. To their credit all of the Bayside team tackled non stop. Cory Turkington was again in excellent form & controlled the game. Preston Petrovitch continued his run of good form displaying great leadership & tenacity & intensity. Preston is the embodiment of a club guy, helping out coach with Juniors, reffing games, working hard on the training paddock & hosting Friday night dinners for the team to narrow their focus ahead of Saturday, he truly bleeds Blue & White.
Captain Alec Douglas, Sevici Duroloka & Ryan “Ack Attack” Ackerman led the charge from the forwards with Angus Fisher & Kimi Vunituraga creating space for the back three of Adam “the silver fox” Martin, Brandon “Leotard” Kief & Biceppe Laudisio to continually gain ground & create scores.
Referee Al Hudson was commended for his performance & allowed the game to flow.
*Premier Game*
After a number of near misses the Burnaby Premier team finally got what recent efforts have deserved & that was a bonus point victory. Just prior to kick off Captain Mike “Pikey” Gough in his own subtle style reminded his team that he was fed up being bottom of the standings & it was time to get the Blue & White victory bus roilling again. His team responded with Anthony Luca & Benoit Piffero very much to the fore, 3 converted tries were scored in the 1st 15 minutes as Rainman De Guzman provided a great link to his backs. Just before the 1/2 BLRC secured the bonus point with a fourth try & led 28-0.
Shortly after the restart Bayside master tactician Pete Clifford hobbled off the field & with that any hope Bayside had of mounting a comeback ended. Cody Rockson performed well & credit to the under manned Bayside team for playing to the end. Given the buffer that the score provided Burnaby gave an opportunity to reward players from the 1st div to see if they could step up a level & play. All acquitted themselves well & praise must go to Craig Mclaughlin who scored a try on his premier debut. Craig has only been playing rugby for 3 years as being a former high level volleyball player did not allow him time to deviate from that sport. We hope to see much more of this from him & are delighted that all the hard work he has put in learning a new game is paying off.
Final Score BLRC 52- Bayside 0
Thank you to Bayside for the hosting & the referees for making the game possible.
Next up for BLRC is the top of the table Lomas at Connaught on Nov 17th.
BLRC
Many teams – One Club
