Redcoats keep hopes of three-peat alive with semifinal victory

GUELPH – It took more than half the game for the Guelph Redcoats to get their offence clicking, but when they did they left Scarborough RFC behind in their Rugby Ontario Women’s League Firsts Cup semifinal Thursday at the Guelph Lake Sports Fields.

The Redcoats scored five tries in the second half to post a 32-12 victory and advance to the league final where they’ll be looking for a three-peat.

Guelph held a slim 5-0 lead at halftime in the semifinal and Scarborough went ahead in the second half with a converted try in the early moments. However, the hosts then got to work, capturing the ball deep in their own half and returning it all the way for the go-ahead try, the first of two tries on long runs.

The Redcoats move on to the final where they’ll face the Toronto Nomads, 38-19 victory over the Aurora Barbarians in the other semifinal five days earlier.

Both the Redcoats and Nomads had byes in the quarter-finals thanks to finishing one-two in the league standings, the Redcoats on top at 9-0-0 and the Nomads second at 8-1-0, the lone loss being a season-opening 43-12 defeat to the Redcoats at Eglinton Flats May 13.

The final is set for Aug. 12 at 3:30 p.m. at Rugby Ontario’s Fletcher’s Fields in Markham.

• Guelph Sports Journal