McGill 35 - Concordia 0
Sept.12 2007
James Stellick of Mississauga, Ont., Jesse Myers and Kyle Buckley, both from Toronto, plus junior Adrian Thorogood of Medicine Hat, Alta., and Caleb Balloch, a senior from Beijing.
Tries: Anton Nestle, Jesse Myers, Kyle Buckley, Adrian Thorogood, Caleb
Balloch
Conversions: Alistair Crow (5)
The much anticipated rematch of last year's finals turned out to be an
entertaining affair, despite its onesidedness. 500 fans packed* Molson
Stadium, as much to cheer on the Redmen as to heckle the Stingers for
their cowardice and foppish footwork. The majority of the game was spent
in the Stinger's 22, and if the play differed from the score in any way,
it was upwards. The Redmen felt out their opponents in the first half;
the only try, which proved to be the game winner, came from flyhalf Adrian
Thorogood looping blindside off a scrum 10 meters out from the tryline.
Alistair Crow made good on the conversion, and the rest of the half saw
a relentless wave of McGill attacks thwarted on the goal line by a combination
of goalline fever, bad luck, and mediocre defense.
The flood gates opened up in the second half as the McGill pack started
to dominate the set play, winning a lot of opposition scrum and line out
ball, and bashing through the inexperienced Concordia pack for two forward
tries. The first score of the half came from winger Kyle Buckley, always
good for a score and a goofy grin, who busted through several Stinger's
to score in the corner as the backs started to click. The opposite winger,
Stefan Rines, tried to match his counterpart in the far corner, but was
thwarted by the disagreable laws of physics, losing the ball middive.
Flanker Caleb Balloch scored a magnificent 30 yard try after recuperating a ball that popped straight out of the scrum. The referee was too impressed by the size of his legs to call the ball back to the scrum, so Balloch was good for 5 between the posts. Jesse Myers who was earlier brutally denied on the goal line in the first half, prooved he was the little scrum half that could, diving across for yet another Redmen score. The final try came from Anton Nestle, mauling over with the forward pack, although greedy prop James Stellick took credit for it in the papers.
There is not much that Concordia could say about the goose egg on the score board. They were outplayed in the forwards and the backs, and the McGill defensive line held strong for an entire eighty minutes, conceding no penalties within kicking range, let alone tries. Over the next two weeks, as McGill faces Sherbrooke and Bishop's, it will be determined if anyone can give the Redmen a scare this season.
*Molson stadium does hold 25000, but loud Redmen fans fill it in spirit...