The Port Alberni Black Sheep scored 17 points in the last 30 minutes of their road game against Velox but the Valhallians managed to squeak out a 32–28 victory in the dying seconds of the game, last Saturday in Victoria.
“We lost on the last play of the game,” coach Jas Purewal lamented.
The Black Sheep struggled with their lineouts—usually a strong point—in the first half but were still ahead 14–11 at halftime.
“We couldn’t get the timing. We lost seven of our own lineouts in the first half so we didn’t get enough possessions,” Purewal said.
Velox scored an early penalty kick, followed with a try and another penalty kick to take a commanding 25–11 lead in the first 10 minutes of the second half.
The Black Sheep pushed back, with Anthony Selva scoring a try converted by Ty Shannon to draw to 25–18, Todd Daradics scoring an unconverted try to bring the Sheep within two points, 25–23, then Nick Love finding the corner with two and a half minutes left to put the Sheep ahead again 28–25.
Three late penalties in their own end, however, put the Black Sheep on the defensive, and Velox finally penetrated the line with a converted try to take the win.
“We should have never been in that position,” Purewal said.
The team saw strong performances from James Cavan and Joe Kalugin as well as high school player Riley Savard.
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