Burnaby Survives a Bruiser at UBC

By Ian Trevor

A great crowd came out to UBC on Thursday night to see Burnaby Lake and the Lomas renew acquaintances. Players and coaches from the Capilanos and United were in attendance to enjoy the atmosphere, a great match up and no doubt scout the opposition for the semi finals on May 8th.

The Lomas are much younger this year with a fresh crop of grads from Leslie McKenzie’s program at UBC bolstering their program, and they have put up some big scores.
On to the match! Burnaby kicked off to start with the Wolfson slope going in their favour and the sun at their backs. Anna Schnell’s kick was mile high and nearly inch perfect. Daamo Skelton got under for the catch at about the 9.75 metre line. Yes the kick was short, and the Lomas took the scrum at centre. From the scrum the ball went to the right with Brittany Waters stepping up from full back to put in a deft chip over the top. Lomas pressurized on the chase and Burnaby eventually gave up a penalty in front of the posts which was duly converted by the Lomas flyhalf Michelle Helmeczi.
From here the match took on a physical edge with Burnaby attacking directly close in, or using the centres to batter the Loma gainline. Lomas replied with fierce tackles and chips over the top to get past the Burnaby front line defence.
As the game see-sawed back and forth over the halfway line, Burnaby began to slowly grind their way forward, eventually finding themselves deep inside the Loma 22. A charging Corrine Jacobsen was just held up in goal by the Lomas right wing, and Lomas were awarded the 5 metre scrum.
With the Lomas flyhalf deep in her in-goal for the clearance kick, Jackie Small’s pass sailed wide right and with the Burnaby back row pressuring the Lomas eventually conceded a penalty for not releasing. A tap and pass to Corrine Jacobsen later saw the Burnaby tight head prop touch down for the try, converted by Anna Schnell. After twelve minutes, Burnaby 7 Lomas 3.
From the kick off Lomas pressed hard, but a deep kick from Anna Schnell followed by a good chase from the Burnaby back three resulted in a Burnaby line out close to the Lomas 22. Burnaby elected for a catch and drive, putting Lomas on the back foot letting Julia Sugawara release the Burnaby backline. Crisp passing to fullback Lindsay Bernrot allowed her to continue the go forward momentum, before posting the ball back. Quick ball again, meant a quick pass to Anna Schnell, who reversed the field after spotting an overlap to the right. Anna straightened her line and passed to Kim Donaldson who in turn committed the remaining defender and passed to Lauren Tagg who beat the desperate cover defence to the corner. The conversion was missed and the score line read Burnaby 12 Lomas 3.
At this point the physicality stepped up a notch. Burnaby fullback Lindsay Bernrot found herself on the receiving end of a challenge that forced her to leave the game with a broken nose. Referee Gerry Clayton was unfortunately unsighted and as play continued Burnaby’s Emma Hadfield picked up a yellow card some for some over exuberant rucking.
Down a player to the bin and with Devon Luca now sliding in to fullback and Becky Querido on as a replacement, Burnaby stepped up their game to hem the Lomas in their half. Eventually Lomas gave up a penalty kick at about the 10 metre line. Anna Schnell’s kick missed, but Burnaby kept up the pressure, and eventually Mel Miyazaki was able to evade the double and triple team attention the Lomas were bestowing on her, and found her way to the goal line. The conversion was good and the score was now Burnaby 19 Lomas 3.

Lomas stepped up knowing that a score near half time for them would be crucial to their chances at success. A series of close in drives gave the Lomas an overlap to the right which they decided to ignore in favour of giving Brittany Waters the ball with a gap in front of her. Smart choice. Waters found herself under the posts for the try which was converted. Halftime score Burnaby 19 Lomas 10.
The second half kicked off with the slope favouring the Lomas, and they proceeded to kick for field position, only to be repeatedly denied by the Burnaby back three. Lomas then stepped up the attacks close in to the breakdown with Leslie McKenzie consistently gaining ground.
Burnaby eventually gave up an offside penalty in front of the posts which the Lomas converted to close the gap to 6 points.
More hard hits and close in runs later and this time Burnaby was the recipient of a penalty near the Lomas posts. Anna Schnell’s attempt missed and the Lomas proceeded to grind and chip their way up the field. After several phases Leslie McKenzie found herself running in space only to be brought down by the ever present, and newly-wed, Marley Riordan. The hit and tumble to the deck unfortunately caused McKenzie to leave the pitch with muscle spasms. We all wish her a speedy recovery with the Women’s World Cup on the horizon.
The remaining twenty minutes of the match continued in the same vein. Big hits, and not much space for either team to mount a sustained effort. Final score Burnaby 19 Lomas 13.

Scorers:

Burnaby

Tries:

Corinne Jacobsen

Lauren Tagg

Melissa Miyazaki

Conversions

Anna Schnell (2)

Lomas:

Try

Brittany Watters

Conversion

Michelle Helmeczi

Penalties:

Michelle Helmeczi(2)

Posted by Roko at April 30, 2010 04:03 PM