McGill 16 Concordia 12
The coach of the McGill Redmen, Sean McCaffrey, told his players before Sunday's electric QSSF finals that the game would be decided in its dying moments. Something about the intensity of a final match, the psychology of rugby players, and an age old rivalry like McGill vs Concordia proved Sean's prediction right and kept 500 or so fans on the edge of their seats for 80 plus minutes as McGill exacted their revenge on the Stingers, last year's champions.
Both teams came out of the gates with ferocious intensity. The first half would end in a 6-6 tie with a Chris Horwood penalty kick and a Matt De Graff drop goal answered with two Concordia penalty kicks by the Concordia flyhalf Scott Gill. The Redmen were solid on defence and flying high on offense, but their hands betrayed them on several occasions as a few ill-timed knock ons killed their momentum.
The game started to open up in the second half, and McGill's discipline broke down somewhat, and Scott Gill was given six attempts on goal from within the McGill half. It was starting to look like the 2005 final, although the Concordia golden boy missed several kicks in a row.
With two minutes to go on the clock, McGill was in trouble, down 12-9 with Jordan Ross in the sinbin and Matt de Graff struggling to play through a dislocated shoulder. Concordia scrum on the McGill 30. Ball is lost. And then it happened. In one moment, the tides changed and the disheartened Redmen felt the sun shine on them again. Scott Gill takes the pass and goes for the drop goal, to pull his team ahead. Flanker Caleb Balec manages to throw his body in front of the kick and recover the ball. Ball is spun out to Matt de Graff who employs his shifty moves to break the Concordia line. A little chip into the corner, almost recovered for a try by fullback Adrian Thorogood. Five meter scrum. Alex Karen dives at the line. Bryce Tomassen dives at the line. Slow maul. And then Jon Antonecchia spins out of the maul and slams the ball down with authority. Try McGill. Game McGill. Gold medal, banner, and women McGill.
After the game, Matt de Graff, Alex Karen, Jon Antonecchia, Guillaume Tremblay, and Adrian Thorogood were given spots on the Quebec all-star team. And then the Champions were off to get rowdy at Benelux and at the traditional girls soccer game.
See you in 2007 Concordia. You almost had it. Almost.
