Meralomas Full Value For the Win: Lomas 27 Ravens 14
by Peter MacDonald
On another cool, wet April day a big crowd was out surrounding the Jericho pitch for the biggest west side rivalry game since the 2011 BC semi-final between the Joey Alexis/Ed Fairhurst led Ravens and the Danny Fumano/Sean Mercier led Lomas (also won by the Lomas). In the curtain raiser at Jericho the Kats punched their ticket to the BC Div 2 final and a number of their supporters swelled the crowd making it a an old time west side meet up.
The Lomas put their stamp on the game from the outset controlling possession and putting the home side under pressure in their own end for the first 15 minutes. Good Raven defending, a Loma knock-on at the line and two decisions by the Lomas not to take points but to kick to touch for lineouts (that didnt bear fruit) kept the Lomas off the board. The Ravens then capitalized on their first long phase of possession with Aaron McLelland running it in, while advantage was being played, after the Raven forwards, Don Carson, Trevor Helgason, Tom Kaijaks and Joe Locke had driven the Lomas back to their line, 7-0 Ravens at 19 minutes.
The Lomas then broke their duck quickly with scrum half Vinnie Quigley popping over the line after the Lomas had resumed their pressure in the Raven half, 7-5 Ravens at 22 minutes. The pace of play was high with every scrum, lineout and contact point hotly contested with the Lomas energy most responsible for driving the level of play higher. But the Ravens were matching the visitors and then moved ahead at 29 minutes when a well timed soft left foot grubber from fly half Harjun Gill slid past the onrushing Loma backs and settled for McLelland to touch down easily, 14-5 Ravens, which remained the score at half time.
There were reasons to suspect that the half time score had flattered the home side as the Ravens had uncharacteristically lost three lineouts, had resorted to hauling down a Loma maul near their line and had come away with points on their chances while the Lomas had left points on the table on some of theirs. The second half would tell the story and it didnt take long to get the drift. At 46 minutes the Lomas punched in a pick and go try after their lock Jim Mulvany had popped out of a ruck and run 50 metres to set up possession inside the Raven 22. At 55 minutes the Lomas took the lead 15-14 with a penalty kick arising from a strong Loma set scrum in front of the posts. At 63 minutes impact flanker Corne Ludick found a big gap straight ahead to score under the posts after the Ravens had shot up perhaps looking for an interception. Finally at 69 minutes, with the Ravens playing one short due to a yellow card, the Lomas pressure produced a 3 v 1 wide left and Ludick drew the last man and sent winger Dewi Williams in untouched, 27-14. That was all she wrote.
Both teams put in strong efforts worthy of a semi-final game but over the past couple of months the Lomas clearly had raised their game to another level. Their mobile pack led by #8 Jalan Farris kept the ball alive in attack and pressurized the Ravens in defence. The back three of Whelan, Mitchell and Williams were constantly testing the Raven defence and the 9/10 combination of Quigley and Weatherall moved the ball sharply. Hooker Mark Rickard had a strong game, throwing in at the lineout, carrying the ball, driving the maul with ball in hand at the back and winning a jackal near the end.
The Ravens were good too. Helgason and Jake Ikeda put in strong shifts at flanker, Cole Keffer on the wing stood out in the backs. It was a disappointing end to an excellent season which till today had not involved the sting of defeat. Kudos to all the Raven players for a very good year of entertaining rugby. Congratulations to Chris Taylor of the Ravens and Christiaan Esterhuizen of the Lomas and to their coaching staffs on producing two very good sides and on renewing a rivalry that has ebbed and flowed over the years.
The Rippers got a big result winning their semi-final in Abbotsford over Abbotsford at the final whistle with a scrum penalty calmly converted by Santi Guadaramma to put them into the BC Div1/Premier Reserve final against Port Alberni to be played at South Surrey Athletic Park at 12:30pm this Saturday. That game will be followed at 2:15pm by the Mens final between the Meralomas and UBC. Best of luck to both the Rippers and the Lomas on Saturday!!!