Druids came out with a strong line up for the game against the League leaders Edson and showed fire and determination at the start of the game, as they took on the Edson pack by running the ball right at them. A number of ground gainers by the forwards showed they were ready to play and things looked promising.
Daryl MacKinnon was on fire with hard nosed runs and relentless tackling. Tana gained yards as he dropped his shoulder into whoever tried to stop him. Cliff and Gerald ran hard and tackled well.Vick was a force in the lineout and displayed some strong running..
It looked like the forwards could take control of the game, but the Edson teamwork and experience began to show as the half neared its end. Edson backs took advantage of two times that our backs were caught creeping inwards leaving the outsides open for their wingers to run. Then a quick penalty and the big Edson #8 crashed over just before half time. Yet the Druids still looked as if they could salvage the game.
The second half however was not the same. From the half time restart we allowed the opposition to break down the middle and they scored. Then as the half progressed we started missing tackles and the score built up. Low leg tackling switched to high tackling
and Edson took advantage of this.
Nick Heffel scored a nice try with a break form the 20 meter line . Dylan Thompson playing in his first game of the season was a tackling machine and Quintin from full back ran us out of problems with determined running. Travis Griffin was a workhorse throughout the game solidifying the forwards.
Inexperience in our positional play started to show allowing Edson to use their backs well. The Druids players showed heart all game long but were beaten by a team that has been together for a few years, and knows its game. They pass the ball around well.
1st star Darryl MacKinnon who was a dynamo while he was on.
2nd star Vick Dhaliwal who ran hard and was solid in lineouts
3rd star Travis Griffin who set a solid platform in the scrum and gave it all until subbing off near the finish.
Druids 1sts won 31-24 vs Calgary Irish and the 2nds lost a very good game to Leduc.
Next Saturday Druids 1sts vs the Saints in Calgary. Druids 2nds vs St Albert at St Albert (1pm). 3rds next game is Wednesday June 16th vs NorWesters at Ellerslie ( 7 pm)
Our 3rd Div players have suggested that we really need to commit ourselves to practising on Tuesdays and Thursdays to develop team positioning and to work on certain skills. This will be a consideration in team selection for the game on the 16th.
Try: Nick Heffel.
