( Lower Mainland Senior Men's Finals - played at Brockton Oval )
( Lower Mainland U-19 Men's Final - played at Klahanie Park )

LM Spray League First Division Men's Final:  Capilano  12  vs  9  Bayside Sharks

The Capilanos looked forward to facing the Bayside Sharks in the fall Spray League Div I Final. In the first contest the Caps were by far the better team. In today's final the teams were very very even. The Sharks struck first and scored a penalty kick to take an early lead. Not long after John Granander tallied who was filling in at standoff for Tom Larish who was unavailable due to work commitments. Granander also took over the kicking duties and had a fairly good day. The teams traded penalty kicks and the halftime score was 9-9.
 
Both teams showed some offensive potential, for Bayside Chris Pack made several outstanding runs but the Sharks were unable to score majors. The Caps kept trying to attack and moved the ball, but Bayside tackling prevented majors. Both teams tackled well throughout the game and the heavy field slowed down the pace. Bayside had a chance to win it late in the first half with a drop goal that went wide. Capilano had a long run by Tony Weller that showed promise, but they were unable to finish it off. Bayside managed to turnover the ball and clear it.
 
The weather was problematic for most of the game with heavy rains at times and gusts of wind. It was never very bright out and close to fulltime it was near dusk. After 80 minutes regulation time ended with a 9-9 draw. The teams spoke to the referee and overtime commenced. Overtime would consist of two 10 minute halves and if that didn’t solve it, five minutes of sudden death overtime would be added. Caps put pressure on in the overtime and John Granander hit a drop kick to give the Caps a 3 point lead.

Both teams pulled out all of the stops and tried to score, but it was not to be and with darkness now upon us the game ended. Congratulations to the Caps coaches and players and also to Bayside for putting on an excellent performance. The game could have gone either way, and it was a good, clean, hard game of rugby in less than ideal conditions.
 
Both teams should be a factor in the Premier CDI League.

LM Spray League Second Division Men's Final:  Capilano  12  vs  10  UBC Braves

Capilano seconds faced UBC Braves for the LM Spray League Second Division trophy. The Caps outplayed the Braves substantially in the first half, but only managed to score 3 penalty kicks. Several other chances to score try’s were stopped by great UBC tackling. The second half was a different story as UBC coach Rod Holloway must have pulled out an old "win one for the gipper" speech or a Spence MacTavish rant, because the students were a totally different side in the second half. UBC scored a try to make it 9-5 then another to make it 10-9 with only a few minutes left.
 
Caps had a chance to win with a penalty kick but the shot at goal was wide. The ending was strange as some interesting calls were made by the match officials. Caps were awarded a penalty kick after UBC players were judged to be ahead of the kick. There was some question as to whether or not this was the correct call, but the kick was made and the Capilanos pulled out a 12-10 victory. The Caps had to make several changes to the lineup as five of the normal starters were missing, four were called up to the First XV to replace players that were unavailable, and one was suspended.
 
Congratulations to the players and coaches for an excellent first half record, and winning the fall second division trophy.
 
LM U-19 Final:  Capilano 15  vs  3  Bayside Sharks

This game had the undefeated Cap U-19’s against the always tough U-19 Bayside Sharks. It was a close game most of the way. The Caps opened the scoring after Harry Jones made an excellent run and as he was being tackled chip kicked the ball ahead and Aaron Johnson scored. The conversion was successful. Bayside then answered with a penalty kick and the score was 7-3. It remained the same until half time.
 
In the second half the Caps began to put on more pressure and use the rolling maul to their advantage. A promising maul was pulled down by Bayside and the referee played advantage. The Caps swung the ball wide and scored a try in the left corner. The conversion was unsuccessful, but the score was now 12-3.
 
On the final play of the game the Caps were awarded a penalty kick and it was put through the posts. The final score was 15-3 for the Capilanos. The Caps now face the Island winners at home for the BC U-19 title. The Caps are the defending champions so the game is scheduled for Klahanie on December 16th.

by John Langley