Irish Canadian Rugby Club 13 - Brantford Harlequins 22
09 / 08 / 03
League

An inspired and full strength Brantford side scored twice in the final 20 minutes to defeat the Irish Canadians 22-13 in Marshall Division play on Saturday.

Irish took a 10-0 lead early on a George Azar try and Konrad Nikkel drop goal, but conceded two scores just before halftime to trail 12-10 at the break.

Nikkel's penalty goal gave Irish a 13-12 lead before the home town Quin's ran in their scores.

The Irish were also hammered in the Development game by 50-12 as 11 players from the thirds had to play twice.  The greens did defeat Quin's 12-5 in the third team match.

Of over 65 registered Irish players, some 26 were unavailable on the day due to injury or lack of interest.

"All credit to all of those who showed up and made the effort," said Irish coach Mark Winokur. "We competed well for an hour in the first team game, but having to finish with two front rowers on the wing shows the type of personnel issues we had."

The Irish, now 6-2 on the season, face a difficult time trying to regroup in the face of injury and indifference, and will face vastly improved Fergus next Saturday at Fletchers Fields.