Kamloops Match Reports by William Shaw: Women Defeat Meraloma, Men Win Over Brit Lions
On a chilly January 24th morning, the KRC Senior Men and Women boarded the bus from Exhibition to start both of their second half campaigns.
The Senior men exited the bus at John Oliver Park for their Division 2 clash with the Brit Lions while the Senior women continued on to Connaught Park for this Division 1 match with the Meralomas.
As the ladies looked to take the field for warm up, the Men from Surrey indicated their game was cancelled due to a frozen pitch. The field conditions resulted in a 30 minute delay as the sun slowly thawed the field before the officials deemed it safe for play.
The visiting Raiders kicked off to the hosts, both teams committed early handling errors as the cold and wet conditions impacted handling. The second row pairing of Milena Chambers and Carla Twan-Jensen caused early problems for the Meralomas attack as they pressured hard off the line and gave their crashing forwards no room to run. On an ensuing Meralomas penalty Jess Oldenburger kicked for touch and put the Raiders in a great attacking position.
Thea Flundra lineout dart hit Jess in the air and the Raider forward pack was quickly driving their lineout and earning yards. Lizzy Gotuaco then hit Mel Davies and the waiting KRC backline. The backs moved the ball wide and Lily Watkinson was untouched as she scored her first try for the Senior Women and opened the scoring for the Raiders in the wide channels, Jess O then notched her first conversion of the day 7-0 Raiders.
Carla contained the next kickoff and found Riley Halvorson as the two forwards linked up for a great run each and quickly had KRC back on the Lomas half. Due to the KRC pressure the Lomas again committed a penalty. The Raiders tapped and Thea found space with great support from Mya Giardullo and Lindsay Stobbe . The quick ruck allowed Lizzy to find a streaking Mel who capitalized on the Lomas broken defensive line and ensuing gaps to score the second try of the game, Jess hit the conversion 14-0 KRC.
The Raider forwards, with forward debutant Emily Lindsay continued to dominate the tight game with efficient offloading and great ruck speed. This controlled possession gave the KRC backs space and excellent attacking opportunities with center pairing of Kelsey Meryl and Caleigh Silversides routinely finding space and getting across the gainline. Aliyah Rodominski capitalized on the space the forwards were giving the backs and bumped off a few would be tacklers before she scored her first try of the game, converted again by Jess, 21-0 KRC.
The Raiders continued to control the game, both Charisse Charise Overhoff-Coutu and Mia Smith providing fresh legs as the Raiders took a 21-0 lead into the half.
The Raiders continued to control possession and territory throughout the start of the second half. Aliyah scored two more tries to start the second, one of which was off a great backline attack, with Mel feeding her a great flat ball to score under the post, Jess added another conversion and the score was 33-0.
The KRC forwards continued to control the play and keep the Lomas defence working hard and both Mel and Kelsey kept the Lomas pinned with great tactical kicking. The Raiders backs continued to find space with Rhayna Silversides scoring her first of the day and Lily Watkinson added another, both converted by Jess and the score was 47-0 for the Raiders. The Meralomas did have a strong period of possession, however the Raider defence was ready for the challenge and kept the Lomas pinned in their end. Mia Smith added the last try of the game as she ran a great supporting line off of Aliyah, and following great backline movement, Jess notched her 7th conversion of the game, going 7/8 from the tee. The final score was 54-0 for the Raiders.
Forward of the Game – Thea Flundra
Back of the Game – Aliyah Rodominski
Hardest Worker – Emily Lindsay (who played her first game on the flank)
The KRC men had a great first game of 2026, with many young players making their step up from Juniors and bringing new life and energy into an aging KRC Senior Men’s team. The men defeated the hosting Brit Lions 68-19.
Forward of the Match – Austin Comeault
Back of the Match – Daniel Turvey (making his senior team debut)
Raider of the Day – Daniel Turvey (3 trys and 9/10 on concerts, 33 points total)
Both teams secured bonus point wins as they start their second half campaigns!
One In, All In