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The following article is from John Lyall of Velox. It was posted on www.bcrugbynews.com 

by John Lyall
posted March 9 2008

It’s a game of inches, and unfortunately for Velox, they came up just short Saturday at Jericho Park, losing 11- 8 to the UBC Old Boys Ravens. The Velox firsts opened the day, winning in convincing fashion, scoring a 45 – 19 win over the Ravens. A fine performance with 3 tries from Jeremy Campbell, 2 from Aaron Frisby and singles from PK Galen & Will Douglas.

The premier game opened with the two teams locked at one win each, both over Burnaby. Velox welcomed back Dan Van Camp & Bryn Keys to the backline and Evan Machin to the forwards. Velox expected a hard hitting game, the Ravens led by Tyler Hotson, big # 8 Moe Tapueluelu and hooker come scrum half Brendan Starling.

The game was marked by both teams inability to score inside the 22 m line, a tribute to the defensive commitment of both teams play, and perhaps a critical inability to finish. Big lock Chris Rickinson got the game going about ten minutes in, shedding the post tackler for a 30 m jaunt deep into Old Boys territory, only to be stopped by a heroic tackle by Nick Allen, Raven fullback. Velox camped themselves in the Raven 22 m, only to cough up a ball, or be shunted by Raven defense, in what proved a theme of the day.

The first try came from a 80 m run from flyhalf Winston Stanley, off a scrum deep in their own end, halfback Konrad Nikkel inserted Stanley through a gap. Stanley glided through, looking to pass before realizing that no-one was going to catch him, and he raced 80 me to score in the corner. This marked the end of scoring in the first half, one also noted by monumental collisions from Velox’s back rower Nolan Ott and his Raven counterpart Moe Tapueluelu.

The Ravens opened up the second half, asserting territorial advantage through their own patient play and Velox’s inability to clear their line, or ice the puck as one supporter called for. This 20 minute stanza netted no tries, but two penalties through B. Waetters, Raven’s flyhalf. Nikkel put Velox back on top 5 minutes later with a penalty of his own and an 8-6 Velox lead. At the seventieth minute, against the run of play, an Old Boy scooped up an errant ball, and appeared to have the gas for the distance. Dean Van Camp closed the distance on him for the tackle but the Raven was able to move it to his openside Angus Taylor in support for the try, and Raven lead of 11 – 8.

Velox pressed the Raven line, camped inside their 22 m, and often inside the 5 m line for the final 8 minutes of the game, only to be stymied by disciplined (no penalties) and determined Raven defense. The final result was 11 – 8 to the Ravens. Full credit to the Ravens on the win whose commitment to defending their goal line throughout the game was admirable. It was a disappointing loss for Velox, who despite playing with passion & determination for the 80 minutes could not transfer their time within the Old Boys 22 m into points. Men of the Match went to Nolan Ott of Velox and J. Mee of the Old Boys.

Velox now prepares to travel across town to take on the Castaway Wanderers next Saturday at Windsor. These two teams always play a heated battle, CW taking the last game on an injury time 40 m drop goal through John Graf. And now for the cut & paste section of the write-up, the Velox Valkyries continued their winning ways with a 43 – 0 win over the Meralomas in Vancouver.