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Brandon Barbarians Rugby Football Club

Rugby Manitoba Senior Men Division One

Sept 13, 2009

Game Played at Reilly Field, Canada Games Rugby Park, Brandon

Brandon Barbarians  51  Highlanders 21

Winning this last game of the 2009 season locks up 3rd place for the Barbs. Eight wins and 6 losses is perhaps not what was foreseen at the beginning, but it will have to do. The quarter final game for the Barbs will be played at our home, Reilly Field, 3pm. Saturday, Sept 19 against the Saracens

Scott Fowell Two trys

Jon Fitzpartrick Two Trys

Rob Smith One Try

Owen Hagen    One Try

Shawn Sarkonak  One Try

Paul Grosskopf One Try

Eric Arpin One Try

Scott McMullan

3Conversions

Heading into today's match - the final match of the 2009 regular season - we knew that we needed a win, in order to finish in 3rd. Place, ahead of the Wanderers..... Certainly, this fact was an important source of motivation for our guys today.

However, and perhaps more importantly for us --- we absolutely needed to 'perform' today. And everyone within the squad knew it... After two consecutive losses, we absolutely needed to produce an 80 minute effort that we could take pride in.

Speaking for myself, I believed (and I do believe) that our fate in the Play-offs would be determined by the quality of performance, that we could produce today..... All of our guys wanted to win today - and all the guys really wanted to perform, and contribute towards a positive effort for the club.... This attitude was obvious during the training sessions this week - and it continued right through to the final whistle.

I was quite impressed by the marked improvement in our support play today - compared to our previous outing - and especially within the Forwards.... Five of our 9 Trys came from the pack; and the effort that created each one, was excellent.... Whenever anyone attacked with ball-in-hand, it was always a 'group effort'. In all, our collective enthusiasm and improved work ethic - through the entire squad - was great to see this afternoon. Everyone was enjoying the hard-work.

The Highlanders certainly deserve some credit for their efforts today as well..... Even though today's try count was 9 to 4, in our favour, we had to work tremendously hard for each one.... And, regardless of our very strong start to the match, and our early lead in the First-half; the Highlanders always remained committed - and trailed by only 6 points at Half-time (27-21)... At the interval, we certainly knew that we had to produce a strong final 40 minutes.

Prior to the match, we did realize that a Bonus Point might be necessary to help secure 3rd. Place - however, I don't think that anyone expected to run-in 9 Trys this afternoon.... In any event, it represents a 'season high' for us; and it was a great way to conclude the regular season.

So, we finish the regular season in 3rd.Place, with a record of - 8W+6L.... in spite of our somewhat 'sluggish' start to the season (1W+3L).... And we are feeling, the way we need to feel - heading into the Quarter-finals next weekend against the Saracens.

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Standings at at Sept 14