The end of year Druids banquet was a successful event at which individual awards were given.

 

Congratulations to those who were recognized for their efforts this year.

 

End of Year Individual Senior Team Awards

 

Mens
M.V.P.	Konrad Auguston
Most Improved	Will Franklyn
Rookie	Spencer Janke
Man of Year	Rene Cloutier
Jody Frazer Award	Jeremiah Richardson
Gallagher Scholarship	Matt Moir
Colours
1sts	Graham Blythe
2nds	Jeff Jeske
3rds	Robert Frigon

Womens
M.V.P.	Ally Fairbairn
Most Improved	Marissa Gan
Rookie	Karissa Rusko
Woman of Year	Allison Lamoureux
Fire Award	Christine Ly
Colours
1sts	Carmen Hobbs
2nds	Alex Meropolis

                               

                  

                              

                     

             

         

                         

                                                                    

 

 

 

                                

                                               

Druids 1sts ended their season against the Clansmen in the ERU semifinal with a 41-20 loss. 

The Druids worked hard and scored 3 tries but the Clansmen had a powerful team and showed they could be a force in the Edmonton final, next week.

For the Druids , imports Johnny Clarke and Campbell Cuthill were tireless. Johnny was rewarded with 2 tries and Campbell scored  on a penalty kick and a conversion. Sean Newcombe also added a try.  With 6-8 of the regular 1sts players missing this game, a number of players had their first experience in 1st division play offs. They handled themselves well, considering the small amount of  practice time they had to gel as a team. The Druids 1sts had a good season ,contending with more than the usual injuries and player unavailability as their season came to a close.    

 

Druids 3rds played the Pirates in a semifinal and won 20-13 , moving on to the Edmonton Finals on Saturday at Ellerslie( 12 noon) to play Grand Prairie who beat Edson 45-19.

The Pirates game was a thriller, with the Pirates taking the wind in the first half and moving to a quick 10-0 lead.

The Druids brought it to 10-5 when lock forward Noah Olsen scored after great running and passing by the outside backs . The team seemed to pick up momentum and tied the score in the 2nd half when Jeff Jeske raced in for a try.

Pirates answered with a penalty kick to give the Pirates a 13-10 lead.  Then in the last 20 minutes outside center Spancer Janke scored from a backline play to give the Druids a 2 point lead.  Luis Medele finished the game with a crashing try when he broke up field and ran 25 meters to barge over.  20-13.

 

Good to see the new players from the juniors,Connor Hines and Glen McPeak play well when they were on and to see the  vim and vitriol veterans, Tana Vea, Luis, Gerald Telidetzki  and Darrell Langevin as they pounded away at the opposition. 

 

Games last weekend and play off schedule:

 

 

 

Druids Juniors.  The Under 19 girls played the Hornets in  Provincial Finals. Hornets were too strong for us, and ended up Provincial Champs.  Congratulations to our girls foe making it to Provincials. That is no mean feat.

 

 

 

The regular season ended for the Senior Men’s teams and play offs start next weekend.

 

 

 

3rds had a close Friday night game against NorWesters, winning 15-14.

 

Tries by Spencer Janke and James Doyle  gave the Druids an early 13-0 lead and then a penalty from in front by Nick Heffel took the score to 15-0.

 

NorWesters had to score 3 times to win. An exciting finish as the NorWesters threw the ball around in the last 10 minutes and scored, bringing the score to 15-7. Then as the full time whistle closed in they scored again  15-14.

 

A tough game with numerous injuries but the team did well to cement 3rd place and to put themselves into a semifinal next weekend against the Pirates.

 

Training on Tuesday and Thursday to prepare for the sudden death play off. Practice starts at 6.30pm

 

 

 

The Men’s 2nds played Clansmen on Saturday and a number of  players doubled up to get a 2nd game in 2 days.  Clan had a powerful team and though the Druids hung in there, they were to lose 34-5.  Druids try came from a backline movement that saw Chris Franklyn finishing it off on the wing.The loss kept 2nds out of the play offs but they had a much improved season, and were in the play off race until the very end.  Good job by the two juniors who joined the team, Connor Hines and Glen McPeak, and they should be good additions to the senior ranks in the future. Thanks to all of the players throughout the year for playing good rugby and  to those who played on Saturday giving their best  in this final game of the regular season.

 

 

 

The Men’s 1sts played the Clan in an entertaining game that did not alter  the regular season standings.  The game was close at all times but the Druids lost 22-15. Druids scored 3 well earned tries, and  showed that they are very capable of causing an upset in the rematch next Saturday when they play the Clan again in a semifinal.

 

The game was a bruising one, that saw Clan lose their #10 with a red card early in the game and a number of Druids had to leave the field injured from the hard hitting and running that  took place, leaving them in doubt for next week's game.  Snowy ‘s boot often gave the Druids good field position and a nice team try was scored when many of the players handled the ball and Sean Donovan sprinted the last 25 meters to score.

 

 

 

ERU  Semifinals  on Saturday  Sept 17th.

 

Ist Division         St Albert vs LT’s at St Albert            Clansmen vs Druids at Clan           4pm

 

2nd Division         NW vs Clan  at Ellerslie                    Leduc vs St Albert  at Leduc

 

3rd Division         Edson vs Grand Prairie  at Edson      Pirates vs Druids at Pirates            1pm

 

Congratulations to our Junior teams for a successful season. 

 

The U 19 girls are Edmonton champions and play the Hornets in Provincial Finals  Saturday 12.30 pm in Red Deer.

The Under 17 boys came 2nd in Edmonton,  being beaten by St Albert in the ERU Final.

The Under 19 boys play Clan for 3rd in the Consolation Final on Wednesday at Ellerslie at 7pm.

 

Fri Sept 9th   Awards for U 7 -U17 evening for Druids starting 5.30 pm.  Druids 3rds play at 7pm.  

 

The only Seniors' game this past week was Druids men's 3rds as they took on Pirates in a battle for 2nd place in League standings.  Unfortunately for the Druids' team the Pirates were match ready and took it to the Druids in the first 20 minutes when they took a 17-0 lead.

At full time the score was 24-5 for the Pirates, putting Druids into 3rd place with one round to go. 

Spencer had a strong game at wing , scoring a try from a backline movement and strong in tackling. Jesse Sabo showed his speed with some penetrating runs.  Luis was dangerous in attack .

 

Final League games :

 

Druids 3rds vs NorWesters Friday Sept 9th at Sherwood Park 7 pm.    This game will determine 3rd or 4th place for play offs.  Important to be at practices this week as we start our play off mind set.

 

Druids 2nds vs Clansmen at Sherwood Park  Saturday 2pm.  A strong win and a very possible Ft McMurray loss could see us make the play offs at the expense of Clan and Ft Mac.

 

Druids 1sts vs Clansmen at S.P. Saturday 4pm.   A very possible prelude to Edmonton semifinals the following weekend