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42 - The Oakville Beaver, Friday May 30, 2008 www.oakvillebeaver.com Notre Dame upsets OT juniors Irish victory ends Red Devils' long run as rugby champion By Herb Garbutt Then came the first signs of trouble. Oakville Trafalgar continued to move the ball deep into Notre Dame territory but could not finish off When the final whistle sounded, several their drives. That would prove costly as the Irish Oakville Trafalgar players slumped to the ground. would respond with a try late in the half to cut the Some pressed their heads to the ground, others advantage to 10-5. simply covered their faces with their hands. Another Notre Dame try early in the second Those still standing just looked into the distance half tied the game. With the wind behind them in with a blank expression on their face. the second half, the Irish strategy was apparent -- "Eight years in a row and we just lost it," said kick the ball at every opportunity and make the a dejected Ben Labenski, who was in Grade 2 the Devils go the length of the field to score. last time OT did not win the Halton It was a successful strategy as it junior boys' rugby title. eventually forced OT deep into "Eight years in a The Notre Dame Fighting Irish, their own end. Trying to clear the row and we just who last won the championship in ball from behind the posts, Notre 1998, scored 17 unanswered points to lost it." Dame's Matt DiMascio rushed in to defeat OT 17-10 in Wednesday's chamblock the kick then chased down pionship game at Sherwood Park in Oakville Trafalgar the bouncing ball and pounced on junior rugby player Burlington. it to give the Irish their first lead of Ben Labenski "Maybe the pressure of playing in a the game. championship game got to their It was also a lead they did not heads," said OT coach Andrew Cook. surrender the rest of the way. OT's opponents generally don't have that presNotre Dame continued to use the wind to its sure to deal with -- they're expected to lose. advantage. OT mounted some good drives but, Although OT won a close 10-7 decision over the given they usually started from deep in their own Irish in the regular season, that's the way it was end, it was difficult sustain and they never seristarting to look as the Red Devils opened up a 10- ously threatened. 0 lead in the early going. "You have to give credit to Notre Dame, they First it was Labenski diving for the try line and played physical," said OT co-coach Grant just managing to touch the ball down. Nathan Schneider. Shantz converted the try and shortly after he sent "We may not be the best rugby team but we a penalty kick through the uprights to make it 10- have a very athletic team. These guys have expe0. rienced success in other sports," said Notre Dame For a team that gave up an average of less than coach Mike Long, who had an influx of players five points per game this season -- on its way to from the Irish's Metro Bowl winning football a perfect 7-0 season, that looked pretty safe. In team, "but this is a new sport to them. It's a whole fact, OT had not allowed a team double digit new animal." points until Monday's semifinal, in which the The same could be said of an Oakville Trafalgar Devils beat Abbey Park 33-14 rugby team losing. OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF HERB GARBUTT / OAKVILLE BEAVER ALL WRAPPED UP: Oakville Trafalgar's Nathan Shantz tries to get a pass away while trying to escape the grasp of a Notre Dame opponent in Wednesday's Halton junior boys' rugby final. Notre Dame won 17-10. GOLF+DINE Tuesday Friday Blakelock vows to come back stronger Continued from page 41 a drop goal. It would take until midway through the first half for OT to get its first try when Slattery outraced three opponents to the corner to make it 80. His speed and ability to break tackles would prove to be a major factor for the Devils. "He was good last year but he's playing at a new level," said OT coach David Schaffler. "He's found a whole new gear." Bruce Watson, Slattery and Brendon Riddell would add tries before the half to make it 23-0. Though the final score -- Shawn Robbins, Slattery, Adam Johnston and Mike Pavin scored tries in the second half -- was typical of many OT routs, the Devils know the gap between themselves and other schools is shrinking each year. And that is fuelling their desire even more. "To be fair to them, they were our best competition all year. The difference between us might not be as big as the score would reflect," Slattery said. "I think it does show how much we came to play today, though." Blakelock coach Kristian Evans shared that belief. "That game doesn't do us any justice," he said. "OT capitalized on our mistakes but we competed the whole game." Although the game was out of reach, Blakelock seemed determined to at least get some points and that effort was rewarded when Dave Allen dove across the line in the final five minutes to break the Devils' shutout. Allen, who led the team in tries, is one of 10 players returning for the Tigers next season. And with a strong junior squad that lost a close semifinal to the eventual champions from Notre Dame, Blakelock hopes to continue to build its program which is in just its third year. "We'll be back and we'll be even stronger," Evans said. The question is whether they will be strong enough to beat Halton's most dominant high school team. Purchase or lease any in stock 2008 or 2009 vehicle... 2375 Wyecroft Road Oakville 1-866-451-2722 email: sales@oakvilletoyota.ca