A poor start by the Olds High School rugby team on Tuesday put it in a hole from which it couldn't recover against the West Central High School Rebels in Rocky Mountain House. The Spartans lost the Central Alberta High School Rugby League game 26-14.
“It was a tale of two games, actually. The first half of the game, we did not play very well. We allowed Rocky to score 19 points in that first half, and at halftime we were down by a score of 19-0 and in the second half the girls really picked it up and … started playing what we'd call Spartan rugby. We played with a lot of grit,” said George Grant, coach of the team.
In the second half, the Spartans scored two quick tries and appeared to be getting a third, but before the ball could be placed on the ground past the goal line, the Spartans were tackled negating the try.
“We were about to score a third one and unfortunately, just as we were about to place the ball down in the end zone, we got freight-trained from the side and lost control of the ball, so we did not get those points and that was late in the game and then Rocky did manage to put on a bit of a drive. It was a bit of a letdown for us (not scoring). Momentum had switched sides at that moment and Rocky went down and on the last play of the game they scored another converted try,” he said.
Grant said the missed opportunity in which the apparent Spartan try was negated by the Rebels would have tied the game at 19.
All in all, Grant said he didn't fault the Spartans for their effort. Due to injuries and other circumstances, the Spartans had no subtitutions, so each member of the team had to play the entire game without any rest.
“Everybody dug down deep and played an excellent game. There were times when it would have been nice to sub one or two girls off just to give them a breather, give them some water, get them rested up but we didn't have a bench at all,” he said, adding he was impressed with the Spartans' effort.
The Spartans were due to play their play-in game for the south central zone today, although neither an opponent nor location were determined at press time last week. Irrespective of whether the Spartans win or lose the game today, they will still play on Thursday. If the Spartans win, they move on to the next stage of the south central zone play-ins. If the Spartans lose, the season ending game will take place Thursday for the Central Alberta High School Rugby League.
"It was a tale of two games, actually."George Grant, coach, OHS rugby team
