March 31, 2018 Colwood, BC (ISN) – The visiting 2nd place UBC Thunderbirds Men’s Premier Rugby side found their legs after fifty minutes of play to cruise to a 48-13 thrashing of Westshore RFC Valhallians in Colwood Saturday afternoon to perch themselves above the idle, first place UBCOB Ravens in the BC Rugby Union standings.
Westshore would open the scoring early in the half on a converted penalty kick before UBC would answer, putting the ball down behind the try line to take a 5-3 lead.
Perhaps poorer play on the T-Birds part, combined with a strong defensive effort by Westshore in the first half would benefit the home side, keeping the high-flying T-Birds near at halftime affording Westshore RFC, holding onto seventh place in the league standings at game time, confidence in their game down 17-13 at the end of forty minutes of play.
With obvious adjustments to be made by UBC, the second half of play would belong to the Thunderbirds. Commanding greater ball possession and a quicker pace the result would benefit the visitors. Unable to solve the determined push of UBC, Westshore would appear to relent to the consistent T-Bird pressure to allow UBC to score the next thirty-one, unanswered points in the defeat.
With the win, UBC now sits three points ahead to of the UBCOB Ravens in the standings. Both having two games left respectively in the season to determine top spot, the team that doesn’t flinch may be the team to take first place this season.
Top try scorers : UBC Thunderbirds – Kevin Vertkas (3), Nick Allen (3), Westshore RFC – #19 (1)
