Kamloops Match Reports by William Shaw: Home Teams Claim Victory Against United to Finish 2nd in League Tables
A longer than planned bus trip from United to Kamloops resulted in a delayed kickoff to the BC Women’s Division 1 action this past Saturday.
Thankfully it was a sunny day at Exhibition Park, and after the delay, the KRC Senior Women kicked off to the visiting United Rugby Club.
Unfortunately, the kick fell short of the 10m line and the United support foolishly questioned the ability of the top of the table Raiders early on in the match.
The ensuing scrum saw a quick reset as United struggled to match the height of the Kamloops front row of Riley Halvorson, Lindsay Stobbe and Mya Giardullo.
On the 2nd go round the KRC ladies quickly established pressure as they held the much larger United forward pack and pushed the United backline to play the ball. As has been common throughout many of the Raiders games this season, both teams had early handling errors as they looked to establish their attacking play.
KRC earned a penalty as United infringed at the breakdown and Captain Jessica Jess Oldenburger kicked for touch and gave the KRC forward pack great attacking position. Thea Flundra found her target in the lineout, and the KRC forwards quickly had their maul moving forward with United players hitting the deck under the pressure.
Scrum half Emily Lindsay fed the ball to the lethal KRC backline, who moved it wide and the prolific try scorer Aliyah Rodominski notched her first of her trys scored on the day, Jess notched the convert 7-0 KRC.
Kamloops was unable to control the ensuing kickoff and the United forwards and hard running backs quickly put the KRC defensive line under pressure. The Raiders were able to create turnovers and get control of the ball again, but also gave away a few too many penalties during the sustained United pressure. United eventually scored near the posts and they added the easy convert tying the game at 7 points each.
KRC was next to respond, with the hard hitting back row of Keisha Henry, Charise Overhoff-Coutu and Thea Flundra causing problems for United from the post try kickoff. Kamloops was able to regain possession and following strong carries from 2nd rows Jess O and Milena Chambers, outside center Caleigh Silversides found a streaking Taylor Lawson who outpaced and fended off the would be United defender to score in the corner, the try went unconverted and KRC was quickly back in the lead 12-7. A lead they would not relinquish again.
Caleigh was the next to score for KRC as fly half Kelsey Harpman kicked the ball into space on the far side of the field behind the United back three. Lily Watkinson and Caleigh chased hard and Caleigh was eventually able to regain control of the ball and score the 3rd KRC try, Jess notched the convert and pushed the lead to 19-7.
Unfortunately for Caleigh, her day would end shortly as she took a shot to the face and had to leave the field, the United outside center was shown a yellow card on the play. Jess put the penalty kick into touch around the KRC 40m line. Following the ensuing lineout the the ball was moved wide through the KRC backline and Taylor and Aliyah linked up for strong carries into the United half.
United was again penalized allowing Jess to give KRC an attacking lineout within the United 22m. The forwards worked hard to gain ground, and Emily spotted a gap on the side of the breakdown and was able to get behind the United defence where she was able to offload to Callie Harder on a fantastic support line. Callie beat the United fullback to score near the posts, Jess added the convert and KRC took a 26-7 lead into the halftime break.
Jordan Kay and Sara Fast brought fresh legs to the Kamloops front row, while Carrie Lange brought new energy to the KRC engine room, while Rhayna Silversides and Anya Borowski came on to replace the KRC wingers.
With a loud cheering section behind them, the KRC Senior women kept the pedal down against the visiting United. Aliyah was able to add her second score of the day off a tap penalty within the United 22m, it was converted and KRC led 33-7.
Everything continued to click for the Raiders, hard running from Keisha and Carrie had the Raiders making strong gains into the United end. Kayla Comeau kept the Raiders back row fresh and brought aggressive tackles and safe carries to the forward pack. Milena added the next try as she crashed down the side of a break down, it was followed quickly by Melissa Davies notching her first try of the day. Jess added both kicks and KRC widened the gap to 47-7.
Callie added her second try when the United defence mishandled a grubber kick by Mel, the KRC backline quickly recollected the kick and Callie finished off the play. Mia Smith came onto the field for the Raiders and helped keep the strong secure play on the far sideline. The backs continued to capitalize on the space that the forwards were creating through tackle breaking runs. Kelsey scored the final two trys for KRC and Jess added both converts, going 9/10 on conversions, the score finished 68-7 for the hosting Raiders. This win should see the KRC Senior Women finish second in the Women’s First Division.
Best Forward – Jess Oldenburger
Best Back – Emily Lindsay
Hardest Worker – Keisha Henry
Immediately following the women’s game, the 3rd KRC Men hosted 2nd seeded United Men.
KRC opened the scoring, and took a 5-0 lead, United responded quickly as KRC infringed in their own end and United elected for the 3 points, 5-3 KRC.
Scrum half Ben Carroll was rewarded early for his high work rate as he took an offload and beat the United defence, the try was converted and Kamloops extended their lead 12-3.
Forwards on both teams were stepping up for significant contact in both offence and defence. The strong running KRC forwards including Quinton Ormiston, Max Heppner, Wes Black kept the United defence working early and continually throughout the game. United scored a converted try next, then KRCs inside center Nat Watts responded for the home side and added two converted trys and the score increased to 26-10 KRC.
Fullback Charlie Kinloch stepped up as United infringed in their 22m and added another 3 points for KRC off the tee, keeping the scoreboard ticking over, 29-10 KRC. United battled back and were able to unlock the KRC defence on the ensuing kickoff and added another 7 points to their score, 29-17 KRC.
The Raiders worked hard to get back in the United end, a loose ball was gathered up by KRC rookie Oisín Reynolds. The big lock couldn’t be contained by the United defence and he crossed to score his first try for the club, it was converted and KRC was ahead 36-17.
Scrum half Ben Carroll was all over the field today supporting the hard running Raiders. This high work rate saw him add another try on a fantastic support line, it went unconverted. The final score was 41-17 for KRC.
This win sees the men secure second place in the Men’s Second Division.
Best Forward – Max Heppner
Best Back – Nat Watts
Raider of the Day – Oisín Reynolds
This was the last league game for both Kamloops sides. Both teams will finish second in their leagues and will now await the playoff schedule to see who they will be hosting on April 25th in quarter final action!
One in, All in