Niagara Thunder heading to Newfoundland.

Saturday July 3rd, the Thunder team came up against a determined Ottawa Harlequins team. This was the 2nd encounter with the first being won by Thunder in Ottawa may 15th. It was a hot sunny day and the conditions saw referee Brian Bell call for water breaks in each half. The heat seemed to affect the players of both teams resulting in a fairly loose and scrappy game at times, which detracted from some of the excellent plays on both sides.

Thunder dominated the first half scoring 3 try’s and converting 2 to lead 19 – 0 at half time. In the second half, Thunder were surprised by a ferocious period of offence from the visitors leading up to Ottawa’s 1st try of the game. However, the Thunder squad soaked up the pressure and about 20 minutes into the 2nd half 8 Man Jarrett Hamilton picked up at the back of a maul and barrelled over for the first of 2 tries in the 2nd half. The Ottawa team were not to be outdone and scored twice more themselves. 2 of them coming when the Thunder were down to 14 men with Thunders Chad Strapp being yellow carded for a misdemeanour.

The final score was Thunder 31, Harlequins 15 giving the Thunder a maximum 5 points by also scoring 4 tries and earning a bonus point. Thunder will now play the winners of the Atlantic region, the Newfoundland Rock in St. John’s on Saturday July 10th for the Eastern Canada Championship.

Coach Jonathan Goldie commented on the win a satisfying, but he was concerned at the teams fall off performance late in the game. “We will need to play a lot better and more consistently in Newfoundland” he said, “the Rock have a tradition of being very tough and determined and the fan base down there are something special and worth at least 5 points to the home team, so our lads will have work to do. However, I have great confidence in the team’s ability to get the job done, we have some superb players and if they play together, they will beat anyone.”

Scorers:

Thunder Tries: James Shanley, Jarrett Hamilton, Chad Strapp, Graham Turner, Daniel Moor,

Converts Richard Jutronich 3

Harlequins Tries: Parker Morrison, Matt Nichol, Doug Davidson

The game promises to be an exciting affair and the winner will then host the Western champions on July 31st.

More information at www.niagarathunderrugby.org www.rcu20.ca

Contact: David Burnett – Manager (416) 919-4118 or deburnett@sympatico.ca