A week after providing one of the upsets of the season to topple defending champions Caribs from the top spot, Harvard recorded a 37-15 win over Stag Trinidad Northern, on Saturday, to put itself in position to win its first ever Rugby Football Union (TTRFU) Toyota Championship title.
The victory was recorded at the President’s Ground, St Ann’s, with Harvard, which suffered a defeat against the same opposition late last season, exacting revenge by claiming victory in both legs of league competition.
With a back and forth nervy first half, Harvard, a team comprising pacey, energetic players turned up the tempo in the second, limiting Northern to just a penalty.
The match took a while to get off the ground, but a try from Rowell Gordon, which was converted by Guyanese international Ryan Hinckson, set alight the weekend’s potential title-decider.
Six minutes after the opener, Northern’s Jerome Maxime replied with a try, which was converted by Justin McLean to level the scores, before taking a lead in the 35th minute, through the bulky Michael Augustus. The kick was subsequently missed by McLean.
With less than a minute remaining in the half, senior national team player Tariq Cheekes touched down to make it even again, before Hinckson again converted to give Harvard a 14-12 lead going into the break.
Coming out with a second half lead, Harvard did everything but folded.
Cheekes scored his second try within five minutes, likewise Gordon 12 minutes later. Both went unconverted by Hinckson. Northern had just a glimpse of a comeback, when McLean scored directly from a penalty in the 62nd minute, but it prompted very little promising forward movement from the St Ann’s-based team, as it remained trailing 24-15.
A well executed try from David Gokool, who confidently ran nearly half the length of the pitch, further swelled Harvard’s lead, which may have been increased if not for an uncharacteristic third consecutive miss from Hinckson.
He, however, made up by converting the sixth try, an insurance item, which was scored by team captain Claudius Butts in the 86th minute, for an easy five points in the end.
Caribs, which suffered a deflating 31-5 loss, remained in the chase with two matches to play after taking a comfortable 25-12 victory over Royalians.
Similar to Harvard, Caribs gained a bonus point by winning with four or more tries.
The two remaining fixtures for Harvard will see it come up against Rainbow and Royalians (both of which it has already defeated this season), while Caribs will need to win its next two matches the Bruno Browne Cup (also a league fixture), against rival Northern, which will be played on October 27, at the Queen’s Park Oval, and a winless, struggling Police.
Police and Rainbow, both out of contention for the title, were in action in the final Championship Division match of the round yesterday.
Standings
Teams P W D L F A B Pts
Harvard 8 7 0 1 404 73 7 35
Caribs 8 7 0 1 470 113 5 33
Northern 8 4 0 4 141 125 4 21
Rainbow 7 3 0 4 131 140 2 14
Royalians 8 2 0 6 162 146 4 12
Police 7 0 0 7 35 578 0 0
By Andrew Gioannetti
Source: www.guardian.co.tt