| Glendale Raptors completed the Western Northern Region League Undefeated |
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The Glendale Raptors completed the Western Northern Region league undefeated, the only blemish being a tie with the Denver Highlanders. As the number one seed from the North, the Raptors were paired with the number one seed from Texas for the right to represent the West Territory in the Final Round of 16 at the USA Rugby National Championships. The Raptors competed against Austin, who came in second to National Champion Hayward at last years Championship. The Raptors built a 20 - 3 lead, but were almost undone by a yellow card which placed a Raptor in the sin bin and left the team to play with 14 players for ten minutes. While a man down, Austin mounted a sustained attack resulting in 14 points to the defending West Champs, 20 - 17. Glendale rebounded by scoring three trys and putting the match out of reach for Austin 39 - 17.The start of the season witnessed a collection of young players who had never played together metamorphosed into a strong team were the sum total is more important than the individual. This has allowed continual growth that is culminating in a national Semi-final match at Infinity Park on May 31. After a heated 80 minutes, playoff newcomer Glendale Raptors stamped their Championship ticket to play before a home crowd at Infinity Park on May 31, with a 29-21 victory over South Side Irish. Penalties abounded in the aggressive match, which saw the Raptors earn their first nine points as a result of penalties against the Irish and steadily built a 23-15 lead before the break. After switching ends, the accurate boot of South Side center Kevin McEvoy kept the Irish right in the game, with two penalty kicks in their favor to bring the tally up to 23-21; however, Glendale captain Mike Graham effectively sealed his team’s fate in the game’s last five minutes, with an additional penalty and a swift drop goal right at the end. “It feels great to advance to the Championships,” Graham said following the match. “All of our hard work paid off. We’ve been working to boost our fitness and in the last 20 minutes we really put it away to the credit of our conditioning.” “The Glendale Rugby Club is ecstatic to be playing at home at Infinity Park for the National Championship.” Coach Mark Bullock added. “I think we’ll get a lot of people out to our stadium and we’ll definitely have great support.” |
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