Blues Fall in Final of Tier 2 Tournament
The UCC Blues Year 11 Team fell to Belleville Centennial Varsity team in the final of the Northern Pre-Season tournament after two strong games against Northern Year 11 and Holy Cross.
Travelling to Seneca College to play under the dome after only two weeks of practice, the UCC Blues Year 11 Team did not know what to expect. With only two returning players, a number of Year 10 players and even a Year 9 in the squad, the concentration in the lead up to the tournament was on skills acquisition more than patterns or shape.
First up for the Blues was the Northern Year 11 Team at 8:20 am and UCC was keen to start strong against their Midtown Rivals. Early dominance in the Scrum and Lineout was overshadowed by sloppy play at the breakdown – earning several early penalties for over eagerness at the defensive ruck. The Blues were helped greatly by excellent defensive line speed and some early bruising tackles curtesy of Simon Ofiara. Their work on defence was rewarded after pressure deep in the Northern end led to a stolen scrum. After a near try from an excellent run by Michael Goralski, the Blues found their first score through Colin Gould – running a hard line off of Finn McDermott. The ensuing kickoff saw UCC confident and ready for more - strong runs from Graeme Tremain, Sameer Jessa and Saif Kizilbash were capped off by a Ben Puskas 40 metre rumble and subsequent offload to a trailing Brandon Kay for the second score of the game. Wills Carter would add a third try in a display of patience and strength to cap off the game and send the Blues out comfortable winners at 21-0 – Ben Puskas earning Man of the Match honours.
First up for the Blues was the Northern Year 11 Team at 8:20 am and UCC was keen to start strong against their Midtown Rivals. Early dominance in the Scrum and Lineout was overshadowed by sloppy play at the breakdown – earning several early penalties for over eagerness at the defensive ruck. The Blues were helped greatly by excellent defensive line speed and some early bruising tackles curtesy of Simon Ofiara. Their work on defence was rewarded after pressure deep in the Northern end led to a stolen scrum. After a near try from an excellent run by Michael Goralski, the Blues found their first score through Colin Gould – running a hard line off of Finn McDermott. The ensuing kickoff saw UCC confident and ready for more - strong runs from Graeme Tremain, Sameer Jessa and Saif Kizilbash were capped off by a Ben Puskas 40 metre rumble and subsequent offload to a trailing Brandon Kay for the second score of the game. Wills Carter would add a third try in a display of patience and strength to cap off the game and send the Blues out comfortable winners at 21-0 – Ben Puskas earning Man of the Match honours.
Where UCC were the more physically dominant team in the first game, they would have a tougher time again Holy Cross. Strong play from a forward pack led by George Chen and Sameer Jessa as well as brave tackling from McDermott and Graeme Shields prevented their opponents from gaining any momentum, however. Early defensive pressure and a series of great runs from Kizilbash saw the Blues once again score early, with Ofiara dotting down with the assist from Tremain. The Blues kept the pressure coming through Anders Lossius, leading to Goralski scoring in only his second ever rugby game from a great Ofiara offload. Man of the Match Finn McDermott would add two more sniping tries either side of a Holy Cross score to secure a 28-7 victory.
The Blues had a four hour wait for the final, with Belleville Centennial providing the opposition. The lengthy spell on the sidelines did UCC no favours and the last game of the tournament did not serve as a true reflection of the day, with the Blues blanked by Belleville 28-0. While the Blues defence was stellar all day, they could not seem to tackle in the final game – with the exception of Shields and Gould, who seemed everywhere – and Belleville were deserved winners.
Overall, the coaching staff were very happy with the play of the team and particularly impressed by the players new to the game – William Uk, Arya Rahmani and Willam Zhao were all fantastic in their first taste of rugby. Euan Lathrop and Charlie McKinney really highlighted the Blues depth in the backs. It was Gould, however, who was the most impressive – the JV callup was a force on attack and defence, earning joint Man of the Match in the final alongside his fellow JV player Grame Tremain.
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