Ravens and Rain Torrential: Ravens 55 – Burnaby 7
Report by Peter MacDonald
Much like the heavy rains that soaked the Jericho pitch before easing as the game wore on, the Ravens laid a deluge of first half tries on Burnaby before the play evened out in the second half.
It was a tough start for Burnaby as they were defending the north end, the wettest part of the pitch and the Ravens forwards had it going right from the start. The Ravens pressed Burnaby back into their 22 with kicks that forced lineouts and, once the Ravens had possession and started downhill, they were difficult to stop. Four of the seven first half tries came through the forwards with three scored outside after the forwards had drawn in the defence. Defending was not easy as the pitch was soddened inside the 22. Frank Carson, Owen Kokkan and Jake Tierney were leading the forwards in attack and Mark Ruga, Noah Bain and Cole Keffer touched down outside.
A good run by speedy #22 led to Burnaby’s try at 70 minutes between two second half Raven maul tries. Best to draw a veil over the details as it wasn’t Burnaby’s day. With a lost toss (I’m thinking), an early yellow card to Kimi Vinituraga, the awful north end of the ground and an in form Raven pack the die was cast.