Irish Canadians ran in six second half tries to step past Ottawa Indians 55-3 in the first round of pool play for the McCormick Cup.

With several key starters missing through injury (Ottawa stated that problem as well), the Irish suffered through several sub-standard periods of play, but had more than enough to rout their Bardon Division rivals.

Tries by Dale Burleigh, Brett Domenchuk and Tom Madden gave the greens a 19-3 halftime lead in a very scrappy 40 minutes; Madden scored two more in the second half, with Jadon Schmidt also scoring twice, Peter Crocker and George Azar adding singles.  Madden and Crocker scored within 60 seconds of the start of the second half to effectively end the competitive part of the match.

"I think the players and match officials were not fully switched on today," said a subdued Irish coach Mark Winokur, after the game. "We all let things happen that cannot happen in a more competitive type match. Still, there were many positives and no injuries, so we can build for next week."

The development side stunned division winners Balmy Beach 8-0 in a warm-up game for their playoffs.  Both sides travel to Brantford next week for a crucial match to decide pool seedings.