Revenge is sweet. Especially when it comes attached to a championship.
The Riverside Rapids senior boys rugby team won the Fraser Valley District championship Thursday by defeating Westview 22-7 at Gates Park. The victory also avenged their only loss of the regular season, that came to the Wildcats,
After dominating opponents most of the season, the Rapids were again in tough against their rivals from the other side of the Pitt River as Westview pushed hard downfield in the early going. But despite brushing the goal line, they weren’t able to penetrate the tenacious Riverside defence.
Instead it was the Rapids who opened the scoring on a long-distance penalty by Kyle Granville. Shaun Tyers followed that up with his sixth try of the season to give the hosts an 8-0 advantage.
Westview wrested the momentum late in the first half as they launched waves of attacks on the suddenly depleted Rapids who’d lost a player to the penalty box. But again, they couldn’t punch the ball into the goal area.
Riverside dominated the second half. They got tries from Braeden Vader and centre Will Case, who scored on a brilliant solo run. Both were converted by Granville.
Westview finally scored late in the game, but it was too little too late.
“I am so proud of this group of young men,” said coach Darren Mackenzie. “All the hard work and belief paid off.”
Especially considering the team came into the season without a win in their past 17 matches.
“This fairy-tale ending is so richly deserved,” said Mackenzie.
