Saturday was filled with emotion as we took on the Brantford Harlequins at home this past weekend. Speaking to some of the players they said this week was tough as the constant thought of coach Brian was on everyone’s mind and how can we best honour him. With a pair of wins in dominant fashion.

With black tape on the arms of our athletes, our 2XV took to the field. The rules state that we can only field 15 players but you know coach Brian was out there in spirit. The Beach implemented a new defensive structure that saw us attack the gain line and push out when the ball cleared the channel. This resulted in a lot of double tackles, stops behind the gain line and kept the Quins at bay for most of the half. The Beach climbed to a commanding 19-0 lead but a late try by the Quins saw the halftime score 19-7. The Quins opened the second half with a try bringing the score to 19-14 and then another try making the score 21-19. Late in the second half with the Beach camped out inside the Quins half, we won 2 scrums against the head. The second scrum drew a penalty which allowed up to pin the ball inside the Quins 22m. Although we couldn’t convert the lineout into points, we did get a turnover, ran a play short side and scored in the corner making the final score 26-21.

A beautiful moment before the 1XV kicked off as both teams lined up on the 15 for a moment of silence. There were flowers presented to coach Brian’s wife as well from the Beach. After the tears were wiped from the faces of the faithful and the men, the whistle sounded the start of the game. There was an early card by the Quins for a deliberate knock on which led to a try for the Beach. Then a perfectly weighted cross kick saw us put more points on the board. The half time score was 26-5. The Qunis opened the second half with a try but they didn’t have enough to threaten the lead. A turnover by the Quins on the Beach goal line was scooped up by the Beach winger and taken 80m. A couple of passes and we dotted down behind the uprights and we ended the game on a high note. The final score 48-24. Don’t look now, but the 1XV have won their 3 games and have climbed their way into 5th place. There are 2 games remaining in the regular season both at home against the Scottish and Oakville.

Both teams are now on a 2 week break so there won’t be any action until September 12th.