On a beautiful day at Aldergrove Community Secondary School, friends and family witnessed another hard-fought Langley Shield competition between ACSS and D.W. Poppy secondary schools junior rugby boys teams.
The Aldergrove and Poppy junior boys rugby teams demonstrated a competitive and hard-fought performance for the Art Smith Langley Shield competition on Friday — a game in which the lead changed hands three times.
Aldergrove jumped ahead early, with defensive pressure turning into points after Jake Thiel went over after a blocked kick. His twin brother, Josh Thiel added the convert to give ACSS a 7-0 lead.
Aldergrove furthered its lead with some good attack through the back field before Pietro Romegioli crashed over for five more points.
Poppy wasted no time in bouncing right back, as hard running saw them break some tackles and narrow the lead to 12-7 through a Gino Paolella try and conversion. Poppy continued their aggressive running and after some good forward play were rewarded with another converted try by wing Casey Wade, giving them a 14-12 lead.
Early in the second half neither team was able to break down the opposition defence until a well executed back line play from the scrum saw Josh Thiel set himself free and score a converted try, giving Aldergrove the lead back at 19-14.
With only a five-point lead Aldergrove opted to kick for goal after a Poppy penalty at the ruck. The successful kick meant Aldergrove extended its lead to 22-14.
Late in the game after some broken play, Josh Thiel went over in the corner for his second try. Poppy put the pressure on late but the Aldergrove defence held on to give them the 27-14 victory.
The hard running and ability displayed by both sides looked good for the future of Langley rugby competition.