Saturday March 2 Game ReportCW Splits at the Sharkpen CW 1sts turned out to be disappointingly, easy bait for a persistent Bayside squad in the curtain raiser. Perhaps they should have looked beyond their own standings in the League to see how close their opposition was to them! After two well-taken tries in the first twenty minutes and an early, second-half addition, CW gave the impression that the contest was all over.
The tide turned, as the Bayside #10 gave a clinic of effective vs inept kicking from hand and the Sharks team play vs individuality of CW, soon reaped dividends. When the final whistle blew it was the Home team ahead 17 - 15, for a well-deserved win and a climb up the table.
For the visitors, hopefully, the lesson learned was; "Get your intensity cranked OR get spanked!" The nature of the rugby contest is that no team can rest on its laurels.
The brisk, sunny afternoon brought back memories of an identical setting, two years previous, when CW's Derek Daypuck owned this pitch in a quality victory. The game was no more than fifteen minutes old when Daypuck had posted a personal tally of ten, unanswered points - his try being an unassisted piece of ease, from an International player.
The Sharks were not daunted and under Thiel's leadership in the loose, #10 Singbeil eventually headed a deep drive. CW's consequent touch-finder went awry. Forward pressure and linking, led to a McIntosh (?) tally for the Sharks. Daypuck added another three points at the thirty minute mark.
The forward battle became intense, with tidy lineout possession by CW and merciless foraging at the loose by the hosts, supplemented by some valuable bursts from the lanky Pajic. The closeness of the contest for possession and position eventually saw referee, Allard, issue a yellow to O'Toole for a breakdown infraction. McIntyre obliged to narrow the gap and end the first stanza at 8 -13.
The second half resumed with evenly matched play, interspersed with penalties and player errors. About fifteen minutes in, CW was forced to replace Morris at #10 who had suffered a targeted debut at this level, creating an even more patchwork scenario for those in the know. CW showed some real character at this stage, probing away with strong thrusts from Lui and Daypuck, balance and poise from Hall and real desire and improvement from Pollock, Daum and Sinclair. The effort led to a somewhat static maul at the Bayside 25m and as the maul wheeled to the open, Goodland emerged, bursting down the blind, ball tucked firmly and diving over, under the sticks. Daypuck converted. Second half inserts - Goodland and van Stavern, picked up on battles from days of yore and Thiel was showing why he was one of Canada's best forwards at RWC, eventually leading a driving Bayside maul, some thirty meters for a tally by Thompson.
At the thirty minute mark, O'Toole was cited by the 'assistant referee' for a late cleanout. This resulted in his ejection. This writer does not question the outcome but takes license to editorialize on the fact that the breakdown needs to be clearly and consistently officiated. From Six Nations to Super 14 and CDI, frustrations appear to be increasing on the part of defensive players against the blocking (obstruction/shepherding) player/s at the breakdown. The dismissal put CW's back to the wall.
Despite some fortuitous bounces and ball theft at the breakdown and ground gained by Simon Lui and Daypuck, it was La Carte who ended some crafty evasion from Hoffman and parties, with a well-taken tally. This set the scene for a Bill McLaren "nail-biting finish here at Bayside today, ladies and gentlemen". The Sharks were baying for blood with about eight minutes remaining.
The heretofore, steady play at the lineout by CW, was not maintained and the plot began to crumble. Enter, Matt 'The Bosun' Le May. After an already outstanding eighty minutes with the 1sts, he steadied the scrums and picked up the energies in the loose. Against all odds, the match appeared as if it would culminate with the potential of an easy Daypuck penalty. Not to be! A decision was opted for a scrum 20m out from the Bayside line - subsequently lost! Play ended after Bayside had slogged their way to CW's 45m mark only to finally lose a ball to a gritty defense. The score probably was indicative of the game, depending where one's support lay. It did not rise to any technical heights but the contest was gripping, with plenty of effort and passion from both squads.
For Bayside - Thiel, Hoffman and Singbeil stood out. To have a fresh Van Stavern rampaging for just forty minutes, is scary for any opposition and as usual, Blaak played kilos above his weight.
For CW - Daypuck and Hall were standouts. For a squad missing Graf, Weingart, Hearn, Mooney and Gay, the effort was commendable, particularly from the forwards.
For the officials - kudos to referee, Allard for permitting his dialogue to be recorded over the match video via his personal, Sony Matchcom gizmo, for personal self-analysis.
To the long-time CW stalwart supporter, who made the trek from the North Shore to swell the ranks by 25% - thank you, Hugh Creighton!!
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