Guelph Gryphons slip by Brock in quarter-finals
GUELPH – The Guelph Gryphons held on to dispose of the Brock Badgers in OUA men’s rugby quarter-final playoff action Saturday afternoon on the University of Guelph’s South Field.
The Gryphs had a 20-point lead early in the second half, but squeezed out a 34-33 victory.
Guelph Gryphons 34 Brock Badgers 33
“Brock played well right to the 80th minute and unfortunately we maybe let our foot off the gas a little bit toward the end and we were already maybe thinking about next week instead of worrying about the task at hand,” Gryphon coach Cory Hector said. “Thankfully our starters had built up a good enough lead that it was a lot to come back from.”
The Gryphs led 24-14 at halftime before adding a pair of tries in the second half to extend their lead before Brock came back.
Jack Morris had two tries for the Gryphs while Stephen Charles Trollip, Kobe Faust, Collin Smibert and Tomas Dallan each had one. Faust also kicked two converts.
Luke Bagshaw had a try and four converts for Brock while Evan Bryant-McKay, Zach Zorbas, Josh Celebre and Brendan Seaver-Sutton each had one try.
The Gryphs did take some positives from the game other than just a victory.
“We looked at just fixing some things in attack and I thought we were much better in that area,” Hector said. “Our physicality was pretty good as well which we were happy with. I think we still have to be better defensively. We can’t be giving away as many points as we have and certainly as many penalties as we have so discipline we’ll have to fix moving forward.”
However, the locals also know they have things to focus on at practice prior to next weekend’s semifinal.
“A little bit of defence and a little bit of discipline. We took a lot of unnecessary penalties that kept Brock in the game and Brock took advantage of it. They made us pay for bad penalties.”
The Gryphs had finished third in the league at 5-1 while Brock was sixth at 3-3.
Guelph had defeated Brock 28-22 at St. Catharines a week earlier to complete the regular season for both teams and had also defeated Brock in the league semifinals last year.
The Gryphs are to play the Western Mustangs, second in the league at 5-1, in the semifinals next Sunday in London. Game time is 1 p.m.
“They play a similar style,” Hector said of the Mustangs. “They’ve got really fast backs and they’ve got some physical forwards plus we’ll be playing in front of their home fans. They’re usually pretty rowdy. We’ll be going into a game as an underdog in a semi, which hasn’t happened in a while. We’re excited to be there, but we’ll have to fix our issues. Otherwise Western’s capable of making us pay.”
- Guelph Sports Journal
Guelph Gryphons slip by Brock in quarter-finals
GUELPH – The Guelph Gryphons held on to dispose of the Brock Badgers in OUA men’s rugby quarter-final playoff action Saturday afternoon on the University of Guelph’s South Field.
The Gryphs had a 20-point lead early in the second half, but squeezed out a 34-33 victory.
Guelph Gryphons 34
Brock Badgers 33
“Brock played well right to the 80th minute and unfortunately we maybe let our foot off the gas a little bit toward the end and we were already maybe thinking about next week instead of worrying about the task at hand,” Gryphon coach Cory Hector said. “Thankfully our starters had built up a good enough lead that it was a lot to come back from.”
The Gryphs led 24-14 at halftime before adding a pair of tries in the second half to extend their lead before Brock came back.
Jack Morris had two tries for the Gryphs while Stephen Charles Trollip, Kobe Faust, Collin Smibert and Tomas Dallan each had one. Faust also kicked two converts.
Luke Bagshaw had a try and four converts for Brock while Evan Bryant-McKay, Zach Zorbas, Josh Celebre and Brendan Seaver-Sutton each had one try.
The Gryphs did take some positives from the game other than just a victory.
“We looked at just fixing some things in attack and I thought we were much better in that area,” Hector said. “Our physicality was pretty good as well which we were happy with. I think we still have to be better defensively. We can’t be giving away as many points as we have and certainly as many penalties as we have so discipline we’ll have to fix moving forward.”
However, the locals also know they have things to focus on at practice prior to next weekend’s semifinal.
“A little bit of defence and a little bit of discipline. We took a lot of unnecessary penalties that kept Brock in the game and Brock took advantage of it. They made us pay for bad penalties.”
The Gryphs had finished third in the league at 5-1 while Brock was sixth at 3-3.
Guelph had defeated Brock 28-22 at St. Catharines a week earlier to complete the regular season for both teams and had also defeated Brock in the league semifinals last year.
The Gryphs are to play the Western Mustangs, second in the league at 5-1, in the semifinals next Sunday in London. Game time is 1 p.m.
“They play a similar style,” Hector said of the Mustangs. “They’ve got really fast backs and they’ve got some physical forwards plus we’ll be playing in front of their home fans. They’re usually pretty rowdy. We’ll be going into a game as an underdog in a semi, which hasn’t happened in a while. We’re excited to be there, but we’ll have to fix our issues. Otherwise Western’s capable of making us pay.”
- Guelph Sports Journal