Maybe the Hornets’ first home match of the new year will be a sign of more good things to come.
The Nanaimo Hornets RFC Div. 1 men’s rugby team defeated the University of Victoria Norsemen 24-15 on Saturday at May Richards Bennett Pioneer Park.
The victory came against a UVic team that was undefeated so far in 2012-13, and moves the Hornets to 2-0 in Times Colonist Cup play.
“We had our full squad and it was just one of those really nice games…” said Steve Hancock, Hornets club manager. “It all came together this Saturday. It was a fast, hard game, it was high-calibre and I don’t think anybody on our team made any mistakes.”
Brad Marshall scored a try and made three penalty kicks and Nick Scott and Ryan Bradley also scored tries.
Hancock said it was a back-and-forth game, with the Hornets really coming on strong in the second half.
“Until the final whistle blows you have to keep on going, so all the boys seemed to dig deep and work that much harder,” said Scott, a player-coach on the Hornets. “We started to go back to our basics and our basics really worked.”
The Hornets are heading into a busy stretch of meaningful matches, so Saturday’s win was a confidence builder, said Scott, and it was also rewarding.
“It makes the little injuries the following day not hurt as much, and I think everybody’s feeling the same way about it,” he said.
GAME ON … The Hornets are on the road this coming Saturday (Feb. 9) at Castaways and will play another TC Cup home match Feb. 16 against James Bay at 1 p.m. at Pioneer Park.
sports@nanaimobulletin.com