The Foothills Division II Lions are in a dogfight for a playoff berth, but you wouldn’t know it by their performance on the weekend.
The Lions were trounced 59-5 by a powerful Red Deer Titans squad, July 14 at the John Paul II Collegiate field in Okotoks.
Lions head coach Darcy Gallant said it was a porous effort from his club from top to bottom.
“I’ve watched the video a couple times as well as playing it and no one really had it going on,” Gallant said of the effort versus the Titans. “We weren’t there physically when it comes to playing those guys. We just weren’t in it at all.”
Foothills is 2-5 in the Calgary Rugby Union (CRU) with just four games left on the schedule.
Gallant said the Titans were the most complete team the Lions have seen in their first season of Calgary Rugby Union Division II play.
“They were big, their backs were young and I thought they were the most well-rounded team we’ve played,” Gallant said.
Dustin Stradeski got the Lions on the board with an early first-half try, but was injured on the play after what Gallant called a chop tackle to mark a turning point in the contest.
“He just basically soccer tackled him,” Gallant said. “We score there and it’s a one try game and that was our most positive play and then (Dustin’s) out.”
Stradeski’s absence from the lineup was felt for the duration of the contest.
“With some of these really good teams you need a punch in the face and we’re just missing a lot of that,” Gallant said. “We have some talented guys, but (Dustin) just has that extra gear to make that break and we don’t have a lot of those guys.”
A positive note for the Lions was the debut performances of Patrick Kirby, Aiden Coyles and Glen Mohaffy, the coach said.
“Patrick has played some high-end rugby so he knows what he’s doing, Aiden’s young and athletic and they just have the right attitude,” Gallant said.
The Division III Lions didn’t fare much better against Red Deer in the opening game of the double-header on July 14. The Lions were shutout 25-0 and fell to 2-6 in the CRU.
The Division III Lions are in Calgary to face the Knights, July 20 at 8 p.m. The Division II Lions travel south for their first ever tilt with Lethbridge on July 21.
For more information go to www.foothillsrugbyclub.com.
