From the desks of Chuck & Ray
The game did not start the way Dave Irving would have liked. The night before, he received notice from
8 Twits that they would not be able to play due to illness. When Irving contacted his counterpart in
Abbotsford, he was encouraged to come out anyways, as they would lend us players. Taking a chance,
Irving did not cancel the game. He was rewarded as the players from Burnaby trickled in and our
numbers grew to 19 when Jeke and Preston rolled in at the last minute. Thanks to Moose, Chuck, Irish
and Lori for making the drive out and supporting the blue and white. Unfortunately, the Abby Originals
didn’t have a player shortage as their numbers were bolstered by a young contingent from Chilliwack.
We started the game with 19 players, four of them being red shorts. Once again, Moose had to cheer
from the sideline as he was still nursing an injury.
We received the opening kickoff and were able to control the play right away. Thanks to Jeke, Preston,
and Luke, we were able to put several phases together. Ted made some brilliant runs by crashing into
the heart of their defense. Most of the first quarter was played in the Abby end of the field. The
Originals had a quite few strong running backs, but timely tackles by Lolly, Steve, Jeke and Preston kept
them hemmed in. Despite our patience with the ball, we were not rewarded as the first quarter ended
scoreless.
The second quarter saw the Originals key in on Jeke, they watched his every move and was able to limit
his progress. During a scrum at centre field, Preston pitched the ball to Luke, who shot through the line
like a bat out of hell. Fifty metres later Luke touched the ball down to give us a 1-0 lead.
Unfortunately, this lead did not last long. A wily back from Abby kicked the ball over our line and was
able to outrace our defenders and touch the ball down. After tying the score, the Originals’ big backs
began to take over. They continued to pound the ball down the field and after being rewarded with a
penalty, their scrum half fed it down the line to their winger who raced in to the corner of our endzone.
This put them up 2-1. Handball commented that they were playing old school rugby as someone head his nose and grabbed his family jewels.
Luke started the 3rd quarter by punting it into their endzone. As most of the Abby team was keying on
Jeke, Luke was able to sprint into the endzone and wrestle the ball away from the surprised Original.
After touching it down, this tied the score 2-2. Abbotsford’s youth, experience and deep bench began to
take its toll. Their tenacious play kept us hemmed in our own end. Their #72 made a spectacular 40 m
run to put them up 3-2. They continued their determined play was able to score again to make it 4-2.
Luke was knocked out of the game when he was cut above his eye. Coach Peewee then surprised
Fernando by asking him to play fullback. Fortunately, Luke was able to return moments later after being
attended to by our trainer, Isaiah. Close to the end of the third quarter, Abby recovered a kick and had
clear sailing to the endzone. Determined to sprint into the endzone, the unlucky Original popped his
Achilles heel short of the endzone. The quarter ended 4-2 for the originals.
The beginning of the fourth quarter saw the Originals score their 5th try off a penalty. Their big backs
continued their scoring spree. They swung the ball down the line again and were able to extend their
streak by running down the sideline. Our defence then dug in and the determined tackling of Steve B,
Anton and Kajander held them at bay. Fatigue finally began to set in and we were unable to keep them
from scoring their final try. We did end the game on a high note. Steve B recovered the ball in a ruck
and flipped it to Ted, who wisely passed it to Luke. Luke then danced down the side line for his third
and final try. The score ended Twilighters: 3 Abbotsford: 7
Despite being on the short end of the score, Coach Peewee was more than pleased by the effort of the
team. Luke was selected back of the game as well as receiving the Twit Belt from Peewee, if Peewee
remembered to bring the belt. Lolly received forward of the game honours for her tenacious defense.
Once the awards were given, we all enjoyed a fabulous roast pork dinner. It was a great day for rugby.