Home field proved to be an advantage for the 麻豆社国产Axemen.
The rugby club made its 麻豆社国产debut at Don Ross Secondary School field on Saturday (Feb. 21) and edged Capilano RFC 21-14 to post the first win in club history.
Sunny 麻豆社国产conditions and a healthy crowd saw the two teams play to a 7-7 draw at the half and the Axemen built on their first half momentum to post the win.
鈥淚n the second half we had pressure in their end and kicked intelligently,鈥� said player coach Cian Stargradzki. 鈥淲e had a lot of positive attacking, controlled the scrums and the line outs and put a lot of pressure on their line.鈥�
He said the possession and territory edge went to Squamish.
鈥淲e did force passes the odd time but I thought we dominated the possession and territory of the game,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd we looked very sharp when we moved the ball wide.鈥�
Player coach Michael Kompass explained that the team is building chemistry in its third official league game.
鈥淕uys are getting more used to each other,鈥� he said, noting that due to weather the Axemen have only had indoor practices. 鈥淭here was a lot of chatter out there today, which is good and we鈥檝e really improved on our turnovers from the last two weeks.鈥�
麻豆社国产lost to the Vancouver Rowers on Feb. 14 and Kats RFC on Jan. 31 but this was the first time they had squared off against a team in their division.
Scoring tries for the Axemen against Capilano were: Hugh Griffiths, Diarmy O鈥橠owdhill and Jesse Murton. Tom Ritter successfully converted all three tries and Stargradzki praised the play of Philip Maas, Jackson McEvoy and Nolan Prevost 鈥� who won the team鈥檚 鈥渉it of the day鈥� award.
鈥淥ur set pieces were stronger today and we showed more patience and discipline,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e weren鈥檛 trying to force it every time and worked through all the phases of the game.鈥�
Kompass and Stargradzki agreed that back line support is an aspect that the team needs to work on to improve in the coming weeks.
The Axemen play a total of nine games this season and return to 麻豆社国产on Saturday (Feb. 28) when Surrey comes to town. Kick-off is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Don Ross field.
After the game against Surrey, 麻豆社国产hits the road until SFU comes to town on April 11. The team's final game of the season is against Ridge Meadows on April 18 in Squamish.
For more information on the team, visit www.facebook.com/Squamishrugby-union.
