By Doug Crosse

The Yeomen RFC, a team suspended from the Ontario Rugby Union's Marshall Division for its final four games, nearly made it to the third round of the McCormick Cup, holding a slim 3-0 lead over the Irish Canadians as the referees watch nudged into full time. But Irish fullback Jason Verstraten calmy slotted a penalty in the eightieth minute to ensure overtime, before second row Ramzi Azar put Yeomen Cup dreams to bed permanently with a five metre run from a ruck to score the game winner and give his team an improbable 10-3 win in the quarter-final match.

"We knew we could win this game," said Irish Captain George Azar, brother of the try scoring forward. "Despite being down late in the game we knew we still had a chance, though it was pretty late in the game to do it."

Steve Staffieri gave the Yeomen a 3-0 lead in the 12th minute of the game, and that appeared to be a score that would stand as both teams, dealing with hail, wind, rain and frigid temperatures, were loath to spin the ball to the outside backs. Instead, the game became a war of attrition, that saw the Yeomen winning most of the game, with multiple phases of Irish possession methodically tackled and eventually recovered by the eager red and white forwards.

For a period of ten minutes in the second half the Yeomen had three bites at the apple, staying parked near the Irish line, only to have knock-ons and critical hold ups over the line deny the precious points that would have made it a two score lead.

The Irish, meanwhile, were suffering from tactical lapses as the game went into the final minutes, with Azar opting for kicks to the corner and a quick tap on one penalty at the Yeomen five metre line in the 75th minute (that decision came following a huge collision with the Yeomen #8). It seemed they wanted the game decided in regular time, but still, not opting to ensure a tie to go into extra time was nearly the club's undoing.

Ruairi Carson missed an earlier chance to put the Irish in a tie, so when the chance came, Verstraten, the former Canadian international wing, slotted the ball from 22 metres to at least ensure the extra time. The Irish drove hard and got the ball back after the re-start, with the wind and some penalties pinning the Yeomen down to their own line.

With injury time nearly exhausted the Irish went from a scrum - to a ruck that formed on the goal line, the ball spinning to the left where the beefy Ramzi Azar gathered it in at the five metre line, lowering his shoulder into a Yeomen defender for the go ahead score. Verstraten added the conversion and three blasts of the whistle put an end to a sorry season for the Yeomen, and saw the Marshall Division's regular season champs on course for a run to the final.

On the day the Yeomen played the better of the two teams, but that is like giving encouragement to someone who won first prize in an ugly contest.

Yeomen Captain Joe Pagano was beside himself after the late loss, recreating crucial plays with coach Demitrios Kokkinakkis, wondering how such an opportunity to advance could have been lost so late in the game. Indeed for a team that was in big trouble with the league's referees for the manner in which both fans and players have carried themselves at Yeomen home games, it appears the message is still lost on the Captain, who planted the blame squarely on referee Sean McDonaugh.

"Things were fine in the first half and then calls started going the other way - I just want consistency out there," said Pagano emotionally of the officiating, that by all accounts from others at the game seemed equitable. A penalty at full time will always seem hard, but after all the problems the Yeomen have had this season, it was probably a poor time to lay blame at the feet of the referee.

The Irish now take on the Aurora Barbs at Fletcher's Fields next weekend, the Barbarians downing the 2003 McCormick Cup champion Brantford.