St Albert’s College are once again custodians of the APJ Law New England Rugby competition trophy after defeating the Armidale Blues 16-10 in an enthralling battle last Saturday at Bellevue Oval.
Albies started the game in dazzling fashion, securing two early tries and looking to set an ominous tone against the Blues. However, the Blues were able to re-group and set about securing possession and executing strong continuous phases. Late in the first half the Blues found the line and converted, to trail 10-7. The teams traded penalties, with Albies going into the break with a 13-10 lead.
The stage was set for an exciting finish as neither side appeared to dominate. Another penalty to Albies took the score to 16-10. The Blues put relentless pressure on the Albies defence who were camped down in their half for the rest of the game. In the dying minutes, the Blues looked to score out wide but were thwarted on the buzzer by a determined Albies defence.
“We always knew Armidale was going to be a hard game, just really stoked to come away with the win,” said Albies captain Charlie Evans.
“Everyone gave 100 per cent today; this is my last year playing for St Albert’s College so it means a lot.
“We knew Armidale had one of the best forward packs in the New England so we worked on our forwards really hard and that obviously showed in the second half. They really dug deep and we still managed to get away with the win,” Evans said.
