Mainland report – Lomas at Caps/Caps at Rowers from John Langley
I couldn’t make it to the Premier game but did take in the Capilano 3B vs. Meraloma clash: Caps won this time 34-5. Meraloma had won the first two contests between these two clubs. Today though, it was all Capilano.
The game was moved to the top pitch as the Bob Spray field was flooded. The rain came down hard for a while and we even had some thunder and lightning but it moved away fast and the rain slowed down considerably. Considering the conditions the handling was very good. Caps scrum was dominant and pushed the Lomas off their ball for most of the sets and easily controlled the ball from their own put ins. Lomas had to request no contest scrums early in the second half as their props were injured.
Caps opened the scoring early on with a crash over try by Matt Plant. The Capilano backs looked sharp today, even without Charlie Jones who certainly adds to the attack. Nick Belmar looked good at 10 and distributed well and ran well. The second try was a good one Nick Belmar offloaded to Kevin Hatch who bolted over for the score. His brother Danny converted and Caps were up 12-0. Lomas fought back and had a chance to score with a chip and chase but Caps won the race for the ball and it was downed for Loma 5 meter scrum. Lomas were penalized for holding on and Caps cleared.
The weather suited the powerful Capilano scrum and they won the sets and mauled very well. Lomas had a chance to get a penalty kick for a Cap holding on penalty but the kick sailed wide. Caps next score came from Ty Brackett who comes from Gibsons. I was told Ty is a James Bay product and he is a tough customer, who climbs trees for a living and is one strong fellow! It was now half time and Capilano made many changes. Andrew Plant replaced his brother Matt and not much was lost there as both are big strong props. Ian Smortchevsky came in at scrum half for Shane Sanford. Shane had done an excellent job and Smorty has extensive experience so there was no slippage there either. Steve Williams scored next for Capilano. Steve played several Premier seasons both as a back and at hooker. He unfortunately had some serious injuries and that cut his Premier career short. It is great to see him back playing again! Caps final try was scored by Johnny Ray Houston who had come in at prop and is also a very strong front row player.
Craig McLaren had another strong game as did Rob McCall and Calgary Rob. Every one played well for Caps and perhaps Lomas had an off day. Their number 12 ran hard but he was contained by strong tackling. Lomas kept trying and they did manage to get a try to put points on the board. This was a well played 3rd Division game and next week Caps travel to Squamish to take on the Axemen, who are in first place. This should be a classic battle. Thanks to the referee today for his game stewardship. There was a good turnout at the clubhouse following the game. Thanks to Meralomas for the game and congratulations to the Capilano 3B’s.
The Women’s 2nd Division contest had to be moved to Brockton Oval. Rowing Club was short a couple of players but Caps lent them some and the game went on. Caps won 29-7. Thanks to Rowing Club for hosting the game with short notice and thanks for the game. Congratulations to the 2nd Division Women on their win.
Island Report – Capilano at UVic from Ken Robinson
Premier Reserve Men
UVic started the scoring around the 5 minute mark with an unconverted try on the wing. Tim Adair replied for the Caps with a 40m penalty kick that went in off the crossbar. 5-3 in favour of UVic. The next score came from the UVic forwards with a pushover try that was converted. Malcom Klaver made a long run for the Caps then the Caps spun the ball wide. This created a penalty for the Caps and Malcolm quick tapped and dove over the line for his first try of the day. This made the score 12-8 in favour of UVic. After a Caps high tackle, UVic moved the ball on the advantage to score a try which was then converted. Later on, Caps won their own scrum and Kes Kasha picked and passed to Malcolm who ran in for his second try on the day. Tim Adair converted to make it 19-15. That was as close as the Caps would get on this day. UVic took a quick tap off yet another Caps penalty, broke some tackles, and scored in the corner. The convert was missed. After this the UVic winger on the far side of the field slipped a tackle and score another try in the corner. This pushed the score to 31-15. A few minutes before the half, Fish stepped in between two Norsemen players and intercepted a pass. He ran towards the UVic line, which set up a ruck. Ryan Scott took the ball hard off the ruck and scored under the posts. The last score of the half came from a UVic maul off a lineout to score a try. This was converted to make the halftime score 38-22. Early in the second half, UVic took a yellow card for a late hit. The Caps kicked to touch and won the lineout. Number 9 Malcolm Klaver darted off the back to score his hat-trick try. 38-29 in favour of UVic. It was downhill after that for the Caps. UVic speed and fitness took over the remainder of the game. They scored four more tries in the final thirty minutes or so with the final score being 62-29 for the home team.
Premier Men
Both teams lined up at centre before the opening kickoff for a moment of silence honouring the Humboldt hockey family. The first five minutes saw the two teams exchange penalty kicks for field position before the Caps Sam Franklin kicked at goal for 3 points. Following this, the UVic winger took the ball at speed and two Caps collided at the tackle allowing UVic to score. The try was converted to make it 7-3. UVic scored the next try off a broken play and the winger picked up a loose ball and ran it all the way for a score. 14-3 for the Vikes. Jesse Ryan made a big run up the middle for the Caps. The ball was moved wide quickly and Johnny Franklin took it in for a score. 14-10 for the Vikes. Two penalties committed by the Vikes gave a lineout deep in the UVic end. Caps scored off a maul try to make it 15-14 for the Caps. The rest of the half saw two more UVic tries. Both were scored capitalizing off Caps mishandling and run wide. 28-15 was the halftime score in favour of the Vikes. Shortly into the second half, Caps Jon Webster took a yellow card. With the extra man, the Vikes scored again off a ruck in the middle of the field. 35-15 for UVic. The Vikes then took a penalty. The Caps kicked to the corner and used another effective maul to score a try. Sam converted to make it 35-22. Johnny Franklin made a long run from the Caps end to the Vikes 5m line. The ball was then spun wide and Erik Hunter-James scored in the other corner. The Caps followed this up with two more scores. The first was scored by Reid Tucker and the second was scored by Chris Robinson. This put the Caps ahead 41-35 with 15mins left. The Vikes scored quickly after with an unconverted try and the Caps lead was one point at 41-40. The final ten minutes was all UVic and they score two more tries to make the final score 52-41. The final try was on the last play of the game. Thanks to the refs for both games today, and although the Vikes had their team banquet that night their hosting was great.
