Match Report for all Divisions weekend of 12 March 2005.
By Dave Brown and John Decaire
Burnaby Lake had a positive result this weekend with victories for the Premier team, against Oak Bay, The 3As against Abbotsford, and the 3Bs against the Vancouver Rowing Club. The only disappointment for Burnaby being the 1st Div loss against Oak Bay….
he Burnaby Lake Premier team played the highly competitive Oak Bay side at home under a sunny, clear sky with perfect conditions for playing fast paced rugby. Burnaby began the game against the Oak Bay Castaway-Wanderers by giving away a penalty at the first maul following the kick-off and then managed to redeem themselves by stealing a line-out and forcing the Castaway-Wanderers into taking a penalty after Roger Robinson played the ball in the tackle from an offside position. James Read made good with the penalty to put the home team up 3-0. Almost immediately after, Burnaby center Chris Landry left the field with a suspected skull fracture, forcing a change in the center pairings. Then the remarkably consistent Troy McDonald missed a simple penalty attempt from almost in front of the posts. Burnaby’s luck did not last much longer, though. On the 10 minute mark an overthrown ball on a Burnaby line-out was picked up by Scott Franklin who carried the ball deep into Burnaby territory and set up a period of sustained Castaway-Wanderers pressure, a 20 minute period which saw Burnaby rarely leave their half. Castaway-Wanderers eventually capitalized on their territorial dominance when a driving play by their forwards was followed by a simple reverse to Roger Robison who powered over close to the posts to give McDonald a simple convert and Castaway-Wanderers a 7-3 lead.
Barely a minute later Burnaby suffered another injury blow when veteran Colin McKenzie had to be replaced. The good news for Burnaby was that the replacement was Ryan Banks who had an immediate impact with some powerful running forcing Castaway-Wanderers offside and giving Read the opportunity to reduce the deficit to 6-7. The Castaway-Wanderers responded immediately, forcing a turn-over and forcing Burnaby into giving away a penalty. McDonald converted, 10-7 to the Castaway-Wanderers. The visitors then gave Burnaby a similar opportunity but Read forced his kick wide. Burnaby kept the pressure on and from a line-out drive the ball hard before Pat Riordan peeled away and charged the final 10 meters to score in the left corner. The convert was unsuccessful but Burnaby finished the half 11-10 in front.
The first 20 minutes of the second period saw Burnaby take the game into the Castaway-Wanderers half, but failed to turn any territorial superiority into points. Castaway-Wanderers then took the lead after some inspired running from Scott Franklin who had been dangerous all afternoon. His barging runs took the play deep into the Burnaby 22 and from a five meter scrum the Castaway-Wanderers pack looked to drive Burnaby over. The home side looked to have held, but a final surge powered the visitors forward and allowed Ken Goodland an easy score. The conversion was wide and Castaway-Wanderers now held 15-11 lead. In response Burnaby applied pressure again. A drive in right field at a line-out was followed by a darting run by James Read who, for the 2nd week in a row, had just enough reach to get the ball over the line. He converted to give the home side 18-15 lead with just 10 minutes remaining. The final Burnaby score came from a Ryan Neufeld interception which the home team might consider fortuitous, given that it came from a very short advantage play for Castaway-Wanderers. The play stood, Read converted and Burnaby held on to a 25-15 win which jumped them over Castaway-Wanderers back into 2nd place in the standings with a visit from standing leaders, Capilanos, on the cards next weekend.
The Burnaby Lake 3A’s beat Abbotsford 32-20 at home. Burnaby players Sean McWhinnie, Barry Ebl and Rob Chand scored one try each. A penalty try was also awarded to Burnaby. Burnaby back, Alec Douglas kicked three conversions and two penalty goals.
The Burnaby 3B’s beat Rowers 20-12 at Brockton Oval. Burnaby players Mike Stewart, Jason Cain, Edwin Hoy and Paul D’Agnolo scored one try each.
The Burnaby Firsts lost at home to Castaway-Wanderers. The single Burnaby try was scored by Rainiel de Guzman and converted by Jamie Levchuk.
The Burnaby Lake U-14 B’s beat Bayside 45-10 at South Surrey Athletic Park on Sunday. Outstanding Burnaby play was exhibited by Nolan Shelley and Luke Nakatani.
