Canada West go top in NA4
Sun, 20 Jul 2008 21:35
Canada West has taken the top spot in the North America Four (NA4) competition at the weekend after beating the previously undefeated United States Falcons at Shawnigan Lake in British Columbia.
Scoring eight tries, the West dominated all aspects of the game coming away with a 55-3 victory over their US counterparts.
"They have a very good team," Falcons Coach Ray Lehner said.
"You allow them one missed tackle and they will use that against you every time. However, I really think there was more in us than that. I don't think we played very well at all."
Canada West opened the scoring seven minutes into the game when young flyhalf Matt Evans kicked a penalty goal to make it 3-0 for Canada West.
Six minutes later, Canada West got their first try when Brock Nicholson broke up the left wing. Drawing his man, the wing passed inside to Adam Kleeberger, who raced over the line. Matt Evans added the conversion, to make it 10-0.
In the 20th minute, Canada West worked the ball from one touchline to the other from their own 22. Once again Brock Nicholson made the line break and again the captain Kleeberger was there in support.
This time the Falcons' defence was better at closing down Kleeberger, but the Canada West support was able to work the ball out to Evans, who touched down near the posts. He converted his own try to make it 17-0.
The Falcons's defence continued to hold firm for 15 minutes until Kleeberger was once again able to break the gain line, this time close to a ruck near center. The captain showed his pace as he was able to beat fullback Jone Naqica to score his second.
Evans' conversion was charged down and deflected wide; Canada West led 22-0 at the break.
Early in the second half, the Falcons were able to get into Canada West's half, where they earned advantage in front of the posts. Knowing he had a free shot, flyhalf Zachary Pangelinan dropped a goal to get the Falcons on the board at 22-3.
The Falcons did their best to mount a comeback early in this second half, holding the West scoreless for nearly 15 minutes. Needless to say, the US Team couldn't get the momentum on their side and in the 55th minute, Canada West was back in the Falcon's end when Kleeberger took the ball forward. With the defence collapsing, Canada West was able to move the ball wide where decoy runners let Sam Jenkins cross the line to score behind the posts. Evans' conversion made it 29-3 for the West.
"We put a lot into our comeback," Lehner said later. "The guys were unable to get much offensively out of all that effort and I think that's when they started to let themselves down."
In the 63rd minute, the Falcons turned the ball over after a scrum near centre. Sam Jenkins pounced on the ball and made it into the 22, where he was able to off-load to Robin MacDowell.
Only on the field for a few moments, the replacement scrumhalf was on the board with a try. Evans added two more points as the West moved to a 36-3 lead.
Four minutes later, the West worked the ball wide once again where Nicholson was able to cross the line again. Evans made the conversion from out wide as the score opened to 43-3.
Canada West scored two more tries in the final ten minutes, the first after Sam Jenkins set up a ruck 40 meters out from the line.
Evans put in a cross kick to Sean Duke, where the wing was able to race over the line. No conversion, the West led 48-3.
In the dying minutes, Ben Grant kicked the ball into the in-goal from the 22, which Nicholson was able to race onto. His second try of the game was converted by Evans; Canada West led 55-3, which was the final score.
With three wins from three, Canada West finish top of the heap reading into the semifinals in Colorado.
The Falcons move on to 2-1 and in the second position.
Scorers:
US Falcons:
DG: Pangelinan
Canada West:
Tries: Kleeberger 2, Evans, Jenkins, MacDowell, Nicholson 2, Duke
Cons: Evans 6
Pens: Evans
Teams:
US Falcons: 15 Jone Naqica, 14 Errol Allard, 13 Gary Golding, 12 Vaha Esikia, 11 Volney Rouse, 10 Zachary Pangelinan, 9 Mose Timoteo, 8 Naki Angilau, 7 Rikus Pretorius, 6 Peter Dahl, 5 Louis Stanfill, 4 Jared Wolfgramm, 3 Jonathan Kollerer, 2 Mone Laulaupeaalu, 1 Mate Moeakiola.
Replacements: 16 Shawn Pittman, 17 William Brazier, 18 Jesse Taylor, 19 Eddie McKenna, 20 Mark Litke, 21 Luke Council, 22 Tyson Meek.
Canada West: 15 Harry Jones, 14 Sean Duke, 13 Bryn Keys, 12 Sam Jenkins, 11 Brock Nicholson, 10 Matt Evans, 9 Spencer Dalziel, 8 Tom McKeen, 7 Adam Kleeberger, 6 Nanyak Dala, 5 Jeff Oudyk, 4 Nolan
Miles, 3 Emil Christensen, 2 Ryan Hamilton, 1 Hubert Buydens.
Replacements: 16 Beau Chapman, 17 Francis Yoon, 18 Gurvinder Kalar, 19 Neil Meechan, 20 Robin MacDowell, 21 Nick Blevins, 22 Ben Grant.
* The US Hawks were able to put together their first win of the NA4 tournament, walking away with a convincing 32-5 win over Canada East and finishing the Canadian leg of this tournament on a high note.
"It's really nice to leave Canada with a 'w'," Hawks coach Marty Wiggins said.
"But more than that, it seems the pendulum has finally fallen. We were able to see a step up from everyone, individually, which really was a positive step forward for the team.
"They were also able to put together a full 80 minute effort and it seems they've finally broken away from those club habits and have really embraced the system we are trying to establish."
The Hawks maintained their first possession after kickoff and marched steadily down the field about 80 meters before being awarded a penalty right in front of the uprights. Mike Graham easily converted and with only five minutes down, the US led 3-0.
They East would get their own chance at a penalty kick within reasonable distance, but missed. The Canadians regained possession, however, and a well-placed a kick to the Hawks corner put the East in a great position to steal the ball and touch down their first try of the match. Chauncey O'Toole was the player awarded with the try and the East led 5-3, after a missed conversion.
Canada East was given yet another look at an easy three points, but was again unable to convert. The game went back and forth with several missed opportunities and somewhat erratic play on both sides until Graham made his second penalty kick of the day. These three points put the Hawks up 6-5 with just minutes remaining in the half.
The Hawks weren't done yet, however, and wing Justin Boyd was able to make a clean break down the sideline just as the first half wound down. Graham converted and the Hawks went into break up by eight.
The Hawks came out looking a bit more comfortable and were able to score quickly after Phil Thiel took advantage of a five meter lineout and rucked one over the try line. Graham wasn't able to convert from the corner angle, but the Hawks were sitting comfortably with their largest lead of the tournament, at 18-5.
Ten minutes and several recycled opportunities later, Mike Petri took the ball on his own, pushing over to get the try near the posts. Graham easily converted this one and the Hawks were finally coming into their own and led 25 -5.
The East did their best to put some sort of offensive effort together, but their fate was sealed when Keiki Misipeka managed a short grubber kick, which he was able to touch down under the posts. Justin Hundley converts this final try and the whistle blows shortly later with the score 32-5.
"It's always nice to come away with a win," co-captain John Van der Giessen said.
"We've always known what we were capable of and we're confident in our abilities. It just took us until now to finally to put it together."
The Hawks (1-2) will try to hang on to this momentum as all four teams set their sights on Glendale's Infinity Park for the last two rounds of the NA4 starting on July 29.
Scorers:
US Hawks:
Tries: Boyd, Petri, Theil, Misipeka
Cons: Graham 2, Hundley
Pens: Graham 2
Canada East:
Try: O'Toole
Teams:
US Hawks: 15 Nate Ebner, 14 Shawn Rafferty, 13 Owen Collins, 12 Mike Graham, 11 Justin Boyd, 10 Brendan Thompson, 9 Mike Petri (captain), 8 Josh Dean, 7 Nic Johnson, 6 Mark Aylor, 5 John Van der Giessen, 4 Travis Meidinger, 3 Brian Lemay, 2 Phil Thiel, 1 John Vitale.
Replacements:
16 Phil Abraham, 17 Chad Slaby, 18 Brian Doyle, 19 Pat Quinn, 20 Taylor Howden, 21 Keiki Misipeka, 22 Justin Hundley.
Canada East: 15 Ciaran Hearn, 14 Colin Brown, 13 Daniel West, 12 Tyler Wish, 11 Jordan Kozina, 10 Derek Daypuck, 9 Adam Shouten, 8 Aaron Carpenter, 7 Chauncey O' Toole, 6 Dave Neilsen, 5 Stu Ault (captain), 4 Scott Dunham, 3 Devin Stubel, 2 Mike Pletch, 1 Tyler Hawes.
Replacements: 16 Rogan Verboven, 17 Dion Varvarikos, 18 Jebb Sinclair, 19.Nolan Ott, 20 Steve Shortly, 21.Marc Cuglietta, France 22 Steve Piatek.
