Black Sheep player Owen Hawkins takes down a Bayside player during a game on Saturday, Sept. 29. ELENA RARDON PHOTO

Black Sheep player Owen Hawkins takes down a Bayside player during a game on Saturday, Sept. 29. ELENA RARDON PHOTO

Port Alberni Black Sheep fall in ‘lopsided’ match against Bayside

Rugby match ended 69-14 in favour of Bayside

The Port Alberni Black Sheep faced a tough weekend on the rugby pitch, falling to the Bayside Rugby Football Club in Div. 1 rugby on Saturday.

Port Alberni saw tries from Bob Brown and Shean Terepocki, and kicker Jordan Kurucz added two conversions in the matchup. Despite this, Bayside ended up with a resounding 69-14 win against the home team.

Even with the “lopsided scoreline,” head coach Jas Purewal said he saw some things that he liked.

“We were able to construct a lot of good stuff, but we couldn’t maintain a good handle,” he explained. “They scored a few tries when it seemed like we were going to score. We had at least four occasions in the red zone that we didn’t score on.”

The Black Sheep came out slow, facing a 27-7 deficit by halftime, and weren’t able to gain control of the match. Bayside was playing fast, and the Black Sheep had a tough time tackling, said Purewal, which made it hard to stay on top of them.

“We were not as organized as we needed to be,” said Purewal. “It came down to an inability to be accurate at the end. Not being able to execute is always the difference.”

The Black Sheep now have a weekend off for Thanksgiving, which gives them the chance to regroup. They will face the Castaway Wanderers in Victoria on Oct. 13 for B.C. Rugby Union TC Cup action.

elena.rardon@albernivalleynews.com

Alberni Valley News