Game Report: Month dd, 2007

Senior Men's First Team
Barbarians make Cup Final with solid win over Stoney Creek
Aurora Barbarians RFC (ABRFC) 38 - Stoney Creek Camels R.F.C. 8

The Aurora Barbarians Rugby Football Club will compete for the McCormick Cup next Saturday after a good semi-final win over the Stoney Creek Camels RFC. This was a comfortable win for the Barbarians as they were able to outscore the Stoney Creek team by 37 – 8. The Creek team played a solid and competitive game for 50 minutes and it was only when the Barbarians’ fitness and bench strength started to wear down the Creek team in the final 30 minutes that it became clear that the Aurora Barbarians would compete in their second successive McCormick Cup final.

There is unfinished “cup business” for the Barbarians and next Saturday the Barbarians will play the McCormick Cup Final against Balmy Beach Rugby Football Club, who defeated the Irish Canadian R.C. 22 – 17 in the other semi-final.

Last Saturday the Barbarians opened the scoring at 12 minutes when team captain Robbie Carter crashed over in the corner and the conversion attempt was unsuccessful. For the next 20 minutes the Aurora team enjoyed great field position continually testing the Stoney Creek defense. Gradually the Barbs wore the opposition team down, although this domination was not reflected in the score line. In the final 10 minutes of the first half Stoney Creek kicked a penalty to close the score to 5 – 3, before #10 Dave Ashwood kicked an Aurora penalty to set-up the half time score, Aurora Barbs 8 – Stoney Creek 3.

The first 20 minutes of the second half were a continuation of Aurora pressure and desperate Creek defense. The Barbarians introduced a couple of key substitutions that immediately resulted in scores for the home team. Bryn Keys and Steve Shortly came in off the bench replacing veterans Ivan Barron and Damon McLachlan. Aurora broke the game open with two excellent tries in the space of two minutes, both involving #12 Steve Shortly, who had an outstanding game on his return to club rugby after six weeks of OUA rugby at Queen's University. At 20 minutes Steve scored a well taken try, and two minutes later he set up Dave Neilsen for a second try. Both scores were converted by Dave Ashwood to open up a comfortable lead of 22 - 3 with 20 minutes to go. Stoney Creek were not going to roll over and came back to score an excellent try. The Aurora Barbarians put the game away when Shaun Allen scored a well taken try, converted by Dave Ashwood, and five minutes later Dave Ashwood dropped a goal to extend the lead to 32 – 8 . The Barbarians rounded out the game with another exciting try when veteran forward Brock Millar took an excellent pass from replacement scrum half Kai Sorensen and crashed over for the final score, Aurora Barbarians RFC 37 Stoney Creek Camels RFC 8.

It is important to pay respect to the Stoney Creek Camels RFC who have had an excellent 2007 season, emulating the Aurora Barbarians RFC in their rookie season in 2003 by finishing fourth in the Marshall Division and making the McCormick up semi-finals. The Creek play hard, tough rugby and “do the basics” well. They are a well coached team and compete for the full 80 minutes, and in this semi-final game they competed for 50 minutes, until the Barbarians overall depth and strength came through. We can anticipate that the Creek will improve over the next few seasons as they have a nucleus of young players who will develop with more experience – Shawn Windsor, Creek full back, is a player to watch for the future.

The semi-final against Stoney Creek was an interesting cup semi-final for the Barbs – the Creek provided an excellent opposition and Aurora played with patience and with quiet determination. The substitutions worked well as Aurora turned on the pressure after the first-half – good teams build pressure on their opposition and “wear down” the other team. It is always useful to divide the game into four 20 minute sections or segments, and last Saturday was a classic, with the first 20 minutes establishing field position and forward dominance, and the period from 20 minutes to half time to get a small lead. The critical period in last Saturday’s game was from 40 – 60 minutes when the “fresh legs” provided by the substitutes provided a huge lift and took the game beyond the reach f the Creek club. In the final 20 minutes, the superior strength and fitness proved to be too much for the Creek team and the Barbarians ran out clear winners.

This was a much improved performance by the Barbs – the key area of team discipline has improved and there were only 4 penalties against the home team, and only one of these was “kickable’, a key element for the final, as we face the boot of Simon Rogers, who accounted for 14 points in the last game against the Beach. Overall, this game was an important win for the Barbarians as it means that they will have an opportunity to complete the Cup and League double in what promises to be an excellent final against the Balmy Beach club, next Saturday at 3:00 p.m. at Fletchers Fields in Victoria Square.