The Port Alberni Black Sheep rugby club picked up a convincing win against the visiting Cowichan Piggies last week, despite being down a man for part of the game.
The final score on Saturday, Nov. 18 was 28-19 for the Black Sheep.
The home team picked up a halftime lead of 20-7, but took two yellow cards in the second half of the game, which means the Black Sheep played one man down for 20 minutes of the half.
“There was a period of eight minutes where we actually played with two men down at the same time,” added coach Jas Purewal after the game. “Full credit to the guys for hanging in there.”
Scorers for the Black Sheep on Saturday were Ty Shannon (one try, three penalty goals and two conversions), Kieran O’Donnell and Asaeli Rokotuiwakaya. The team came close to scoring one last try in the dying minutes of the game, but Cowichan managed to shut this down.
“All the back scored today, which is unusual for us,” said Purewal. “It was a very good day for them.”
Purewal said that the Black Sheep’s scrums were good, the lineouts showed some improvements and the forwards did a good job defensively, which helped them keep Cowichan off the socreboard.
“That’s been one of our focus areas over the last few weeks, especially after the Rowing Club blowout,” he said, referring to the team’s 74-5 loss against the Vancouver Rowing Club on Nov. 4. “We just had one of those days—whatever they did was perfect, and whatever we did was not.”
In contrast, Purewal says his team made things “very difficult” on Cowichan last Saturday.
The Black Sheep are off to the mainland next weekend to face the Abbotsford Rugby Club which Purewal says will be a “good test” for his team before the Christmas break begins.