Queen City vs Boulder 4/5/14 - Match Report

April 5th Queen City 17 – Boulder 45

This past Saturday the Queen City Rams traveled to Boulder to take on Boulder RFC in a friendly. This was the final tune up match before our last league match for all the marbles next Saturday vs. the Quins. However first things first, the Boulder RFC match!

Boulder RFC has constantly been a thorn in Queen City’s side after dropping many close matches against them the boys were looking for some redemption. However, at the kickoff the hosts were on the front foot after stealing the opening kickoff. Boulder was able to retain possession and work the ball down inside the City 22. The orange and black were up to the challenge though and some good all-around defending weathered the initial attack. Eventually the boys cleared the lines with a clearance kick that found touch. The forwards were then able to keep the defensive pressure up and forced Boulder into touch. The resulting lineout was won by the orange and black and then spun wide to the backs. The boys were within 10 meters of the try line and Chris Ng made a deft pass back inside to Hayden Kinnear who was in support. Hayden was stopped at the 5-meter line, but support was there. Chris Gustafson went close and then Mike Reding had a go and was stopped short. Johnny English whipped the ball out to the backs that had reformed. Derek Kerr made a hard run and then off loaded to support. The ball went wide to Hayden Kinnear who scampered around the corner and touched down for the opening try at the 12’ mark. Mike Reding stepped up for the extras but alas did not split the posts (5-0 Kinnear 12’). Boulder once again was able to steal the kickoff and were moving down the field again. However, City stole the ball and the ensuing clearance kick was charged down. The boys committed a penalty, which resulted in a Boulder scrum at the 5-meter line. Boulder was able to crash over from the set piece and score a converted try (5-7 18’). City came out and went back to work putting defensive pressure on Boulder. This resulted in a turnover that unfortunately went into touch. The orange and black stole the lineout though. Luke Porter then had a nice run, followed by Mike Reding. The ball went wide and Scott Izat saw a gap and went for it. Opening the defense he released the Ng’s on the wing. I am sure the Boulder defender thought he was seeing double as the twins ran at him, Steve the ball carrier took the defender and offloaded to put Chris away. The extras went just wide but City was back in front 10-7 after 24’ played (10-7 C. Ng 24’). The lead was short lived though as Boulder once again was up to the task. Aided by some penalties by the orange and black, Boulder finally broke through City’s tacklers for another converted try, 10-14 after 29’. The teams would then trade hits back and forth for the remainder of the half as both teams were delivering some crushing tackles.

Halftime Queen City 10 – Boulder 14

The second half looked like the first to begin with. City did a great job to steal the kickoff. However, a lone runner saw Boulder reciprocate at a ruck. Unfortunately, Boulder broke quickly off the turnover and went through a gap in the rushing up defense for another converted try at the 42’ (10-21 42’). The boys continued to battle though and were able to answer quickly. Once again lineout ball was won by the forwards, who shipped it wide. The Backs broke the gainline yet again and were able to retain possession. The forwards were there in support and secured the ball. The ball then came wide again and found Hayden who raced in for his second of the match. Reding with extras and the boys were right back in the match (17-21 Kinnear, Reding 46’). The next ten minutes saw the teams playing in the neutral part of the field. You could definitely feel this one was hanging in the balance. If the orange and black could manage to score next, we might have Boulder on the ropes. Unfortunately, this did not happen. Boulder may have wobbled but they answered the bell for the final stanza. Boulder was able to score a converted try in the 57’ after resisting City’s last major push of the match. Once again aided by penalties from City, Boulder went back to an eleven-point lead (17-28 57’). This was essentially the knockout punch for the orange and black. The boys were not able to fully recover from that final punch. As the orange and black attempted to push forward, the game plan went all sixes and sevens, which allowed the hosts to capitalize on our mistakes. Not that they needed any help, but we were in a giving mood for the final 20’. Boulder scored three more tries before the end of the match with one conversion and running out 17-45 victors on the day.

While the boys went down on the day, positives were plentiful. Defensive pressure was dynamite from the boys. Tackling was great. There were a couple of unsung fellas working all day. Ian Jacobs was working well around the field. Hayden Kinnear had his usual day. Mike Reding made himself a nuisance. Angry Derek Kerr made some nice runs and big tackles. Brian Gustafson worked hard to be in support as did brother Chris. However, the Ng brothers on the day played lights out. Chris and Steve were making tackles, always in support, taking kicks out of the air, breaking long runs and doing great work in the deep three area of the pitch. The Ng boys switched back and forth from wing and fullback and looked comfortable playing either position. We had to select both of them for men of the match, as we cannot always tell who is who out on the field, dang identical twins! Well done men of the match.

B-Side: Queen City Killer B’s 17 – Boulder 40

This was an opportunity for some of the new players to get a significant amount of playing time against a quality opponent. Boulder ran out some of their reserves with their A-side so it was a tall order for the Killer B’s. Boulder came out rampant, as the boys didn’t know exactly what to expect as this was quite the step up in competition from previous matches this season. Boulder was able to run in 5 converted tries in the first half staking a 35-0 lead. However, at the death in the first half the boys responded well and were able to make inroads into Boulder territory. Finally, off some good forward work the ball was sprung wide to new outside center Jarrett Fraser. He went over for the try to end the half 5-35.

The boys had some momentum and confidence from that try. The orange and black began to take the game to Boulder a little more. Brian Gustafson playing at standoff found a gap and took a 60-meter jaunt into the try zone. He even put the extras over to make the score 12-35. Boulder would respond immediately off the kickoff and take the ball down and score an unconverted try to make it 12-40. The Killer B’s continued to fight though, and would once again be rewarded at the death. A kick over caught Boulder out of position and winger Derek Ruel was giving chase. Two boulder defenders and Derek reached the ball at the same time the ball was bundled into the try line flag and bounced back into play. Derek had a chance for it and made it difficult for Boulder. Then support arrived, recycled the ball and big Eric Gustafson was able to burrow under the defense and touch it down. The extras went just wide from Nick Opp on the touchline conversion. Final score 17 – 40.

Once again, it was a great showing from the new players. Matt Williams was massive at inside center, breaking tackles and the gainline on his runs. Jarrett Fraser was able to get in on the scoring. Christian had a good run at prop. Adam was able to gain some more experience. Great work by all.