The Banff Men’s Rugby Football Club’s season has come to an abrupt end after a 25-22 loss in Calgary to the Saints in Calgary, Saturday (Sept. 17).
The game was part of first-round Calgary Rugby Union Division 2 playoff action, for which Banff entered in third place with a regular season record of 7-3, with two games not played.
From beginning to end, the game was a close match, as neither team could pull ahead on the scoreboard.
Banff opened scoring with a try by Tim Gallagher, followed by two Saints tries. Banff then scored again, although Fernley Simmonds’ score was quickly answered by another Saints try, making the half-time score 17-14 for the Saints.
Near the start of the second half, Calgary, pushing hard into Banff territory and on the verge of the goal line, suddenly turned over the ball and Banff’s Tom Bremner ran the length of the field for a try.
It was all for naught though, as a penalty wiped out the try and brought the ball back to the Banff end. Then, with the Saints gaining possession, they too scored a try which was discounted due to a penalty.
The game settled down a bit after the two cancelled tries. Midway into the second half, Calgary put another try on the scoreboard, which was quickly followed by another from Banff. As both teams missed the conversion, this left the score at 22-19 for the Saints.
With about five minutes left in the game and faced with a penalty kick situation, Banff was able to score three points, tying a thrilling playoff game.
As it was such a close match, though, with the scoring of one team mirroring the other, Calgary converted a penalty kick with about a minute left in the game, putting the Saints three points ahead at 25-22. There the game ended, dashing all hopes for Banff glory.
Banff’s Tim Gallagher spoke briefly following the game.
“We just didn’t really deserve it,” he said. “In the end, we gave it our all. We were unlucky with a few calls by the ref, but it went both ways, so it was so close.”
Gallagher is from New Zealand and hopes to return again next year.
“There’s always next year,” he said. “We had a great season, the boys all worked hard.”
Banff faced the Saints once earlier in the season, losing that game 35-28.
Earlier in the day, Australia, in its hunt for good placement in the rugby World Cup, lost to Ireland 15-6. As about half of the Banff team is composed of players from Down Under, this weighed heavily on the mood and spirit of the players.
