vs. Balmy Beach

A veteran team playing passionate defence all day gave Balmy Beach a 10-0 win over League Champions Irish Canadians before 1600 fans at Fletchers Fields, thus clinching the first cup win for the Beach since 1997.

The Irish chose to play into the driving rain and wind in the first half, and disaster struck almost immediately when starting fullback and goal kicker Jason Verstraten had to leave the game after 3 minutes with back spasms. Beach pinned the Irish in their 22 for almost the entire first 20 minutes, using the accurate boot of Simon Rodgers to play the ball deep. The Beach were rewarded with a Kyle Nichols try and a Rodgers goal to lead 10-0 after 18 minutes, but no one at the ground thought that would be it for scoring with the two highest scoring teams in the league playing.

Irish came back into the Beach end late in the first half but could not overcome the elements and the blue defence, and the teams retired to the changing rooms at 10-0 Beach .

The skies cleared somewhat for the second half, but the wet ball and wind again made handling tricky. Irish began to exert heavy pressure on the Beach line, but a penalty here, knock on there, and some strange tactical decisions ended each threat. With Verstraten off, Irish resorted to Peter Smith for a first penalty goal kick, but his attempt from 36 was short. Verstratens replacement, 20 year old York U fullback Raf Kaczmarek, also could not convert on his attempt and the score stood.

With 10 minutes to play Irish threw everything they had at the Beach line, but great tackling and some timely penalty calls repelled every threat, and the game ended with Beach joyous at mid-field.

“All credit to the Beach,” said Irish coach Mark Winokur afterwards. “They had quite a few guys who have been at this for a long time and are near the end of the line, so to them I say congratulations on a great defensive effort. The loss of our goal kicker and most dangerous runner early on really hurt, and although Raf was great in a difficult situation, it did make a difference. We just didn’t convert on our many chances, and Beach made the most of theirs.”

Post game, the Irish held their annual players feedback meeting, as usual led by ex-assistant coach Jonny Nikora, and the feeling was overwhelming positive.

“This was a transition year for us,” reflected Winokur. “We lost long-time stalwarts like Jon Ashley, Ish Mozes, Gareth Pettigrew, Dave Laing, Brad Boss, and Oren Smith, combined with having lost Dale Burleigh, Tom Madden and Ed Gardner the year before, so with a completely turned over team, to win the league and get this close is really somewhat surprising. We may see the return of a few of those guys next year, and our young guys like Raf, Ruari Carson, and the three Pac Pride players, will be that much more seasoned.”

The Irish will close out their season on Saturday, November 20 at 1 pm in Charlotte , NC against the unbeaten Charlotte RFC. The hosts have run the table in the Mid Atlantic RFU this fall, and have beaten Super League teams Potomac Athletic and Philadelphia Whitemarsh on the way. This should be a very competitive match, with the Irish taking 10 regulars down south. Training for that match will be held on Saturday, November 6 at 10:30 and on Sunday, November 14, both at Newtonbrook SS.

Squad: Kip Wotherspoon, Ryan Carr (Domenchuk - 75 min), Rodrigo Lacassie, Peter Crocker (Orsi - 65 min), Ramzi Azar, George Azar, Mark Thompson, Stephen Conlon, David McCully, Peter Smith, Fabian Rayne, Henry Miers, Ruairi Carson, Andrew Thompson, Jason Verstraten (Kaczmarek - 5 min)
Subs: Raf Kaczmarek, Rob Galbraith, Sebastian Orsi, Brett Domenchuk, Kevin Turlo, Andrew Yearwood, John Slaughter

Two first half scores by the Balmy Beach were all that was needed to stop a fourteen game win streak for the Toronto Irish as the East Toronto club won the McCormick Cup by a 10-0 score in front of 1,500 fans at Fletcher's Fields in Markham, Ontario Saturday, capping the Ontario rugby season.

Simon Rogers hit a 42 metre penalty, and then Beach scrum-half Glen Miller and long time club mate Kyle Nichols had a wordless exchange to set up the game's only try, with a ruck from the Irish five metre line giving Miller the opportunity to throw a well timed spin pass to Nichols, who scored untouched left of the posts. Rogers added the extras to give his side a 10-0 lead and surprisingly that was the only scoring for the rest of the game.

The Irish Canadians were favourites heading into the match, having beaten the Beach twice in the regular season, and not dropping a decision since losing the opening two matches of the 2004 season.

"We just looked at each other and knew it was on," said Nichols of his first half scoring pass from Miller. "I honestly didn't think that a 10-0 score would stand up for the rest of the game, but I am glad it did."

Beach coach Bruce Gage echoed those sentiments, saying, "No way did I think that would be the only scoring in the whole game, but we defended well and did what we had to do."

The Irish left several opportunities begging in the match, but the turning point had to be in the 70th minute when the Beach were penalized on their own five metre line with the Irish calling for a penalty scrum. Beach second row Drew Vaughan went down with a cramp, delaying the restart some five minutes, and when the two sides finally scrummaged a penalty against the Irish for killing the ball in an ensuing ruck saw the opportunity go begging.

It was an uncharacteristic display by the Irish, who rarely linked two phases of play together all afternoon, and had to be disappointed to lose a game that could have been so easily won but for basic errors.

Irish Captain George Azar says despite the loss his team was going to celebrate on the night - reflecting on the season they had overall, including winning the regular season title.

"We still accomplished a lot this year - I don't want these guys to hang their heads, we still had a great season, and that is what we are going to celebrate tonight," said the wiry flanker.

Irish Coach Mark Winokur was disappointed by the loss but said his team would be back to the final in the near future.

"We have a lot of young guys and this is going to be a good team for some time to come," he said.

Scoring:

Balmy Beach:
Try: Kyle Nichols
Penalty: Simon Rogers
Con: Simon Rogers