Redmen ruggers run roughshod over Boston College
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HANOVER, NH -- Winger Mike Davis of Mississauga, Ont., scored a pair of tries and sophomore kicker Gideon Balloch of Ottawa contributed nine points on a penalty kick and three conversions as ±«ÓãÖ±²¥ overwhelmed Boston College 29-10 at the Dartmouth Classic men's rugby tournament opener in Hanover, N.H., Saturday.
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The tournament, which also featured Queen's and Dartmouth with two cross-border match-ups each day, used a modified 30-minute half format, 10 minutes shorter than usual.
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"It was not our best game and there were many errors made on both sides," said ±«ÓãÖ±²¥ co-coach Craig Beemer. "But it was nice to see that we could regroup in the second half, where our fitness played a role and we were able to exploit some areas where we looked weak during the first half."
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±«ÓãÖ±²¥ opened the scoring at the five-minute mark when Balloch took advantage of a Boston College infraction to connect on a 35-yard penalty kick to put the Redmen ahead 3-0.
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BC jumped into a 5-3 lead after a couple of penalties by the Redmen, resulting in a lineout near the ±«ÓãÖ±²¥ five-yard line and an unconverted try when an unknown player crashed through to score from a big pile up..
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Just before the half, ±«ÓãÖ±²¥ went ahead 10-5 when Ajax, Ont., native Kyle Buckley finally chipped a ball through the defence and then raced through kicking the ball once more before jumping on it in the try zone. The conversion was made by Balloch.
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In the second half, ±«ÓãÖ±²¥ moved the ball much better out to the wing where Davis was able to beat his man to the outside, running up the sideline for a 17-5 lead after Balloch's conversion.
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±«ÓãÖ±²¥'s fitness appeared to be the difference as the clock was winding down and James Stellick, a senior prop from Mississauga, broke through the line for a nice 20-yard run and eventually off-load the ball to outside centre Brendan O'Sullivan, a junior from Toronto, who ran the last 15 yards untouched for the try and a commanding 22-5 lead.
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±«ÓãÖ±²¥ ran into penalty problems and BC again secured a lineout and crashed the ball ±«ÓãÖ±²¥ multiple times until one of their ±«ÓãÖ±²¥s finally was able to reach the try zone to narrow the gap to 22-10.
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Davis and Balloch hooked up again for a try and convert, respectively, to put the game out of reach with a 40-yard romp down the sideline and touching it down between the posts.
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The Redmen can win the tourney with a victory over Dartmouth on Sunday at 1 p.m.
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