U20 LOYALISTS N.B. RUGBY CHAMPS

BY THE DAILY GLEANER

AUGUST 24 2012

The Fredericton Loyalists U20 men’s rugby team is this year’s provincial champion after defeating the Saint John Trojans 13-5 in a hard-fought final Wednesday night at Hazen White Field in Saint John.

The Loyalists opened the scoring with a penalty kick from man of the match Ryan Vokey. Fredericton then scored a try through a quick tap penalty taken by James Mitchell, who moved the ball to Brandon Courtney.

Courtney touched it down under the posts making an easy conversion for Vokey for a 10-0 halftime lead.

The Trojans got back in the game 15 minutes into the second half when they capitalized on an errant pass by the Loyalists and broke away for a 50-metre run resulting in a try by Joe MacKay. The convert was missed.

Ten minutes later, Vokey booted another penalty to hike the Loyalists’ lead to 13-5.

The final 15 minutes was back and forth with both teams playing hard until the final whistle. But there was no more scoring and Loyalists captain James Mitchell accepted the U20 provincial Thorpe Cup from Trojans club president Peter Fitzgerald.

The provincial senior women’s champion will be decided Saturday in Moncton.

The Fredericton Lady Loyalists will take on the Moncton Black Tide at 11 a.m. at Bernice MacNaughton High School.

The Loyalists struggled a bit during the regular season, finishing in third place, but moved on the finals by virtue of a 24-3 road win over the Saint John Trojans last weekend.

Moncton finished in first, and moved on to the final by defeating the Saint John Irish 36-10. Moncton narrowly defeated the Loyalists in each of their two regular-season matchups, by a four-point differential in the first, and by one point courtesy of a penalty kick scored on the last play of the match in their last encounter.