Titans Senior Women 22 - Hornets - 5
Titans 1st Div. Men 7 - Edmonton Clan 16
Titans 3rd Div. Men 10 - Calgary Hornets 27

Let's start with the good news.  The Ladies have won their 13th in a row and advanced to the Calgary Final for Senior Women 1st Division with a 22 - 5 win over a stubborn Calgary Hornets at Titans Rugby Park Saturday.

Scorers:  Kate Woods, Shannon Court, Chelsey Clifford and Christina Stryker.  Anita LaRose kicked one conversion.  It was great watching the hi-lites in CHTV thanks to Slav.  Details on the match to follow.

Men's Rugby

Titans 1st Div. were very disappointed with the result at Airways Park in Edmonton on Sat.  The team gave up an early penalty just a minute in to trail 3-0.  Against a brisk wind Red Deer moved the ball into scoring position with a fine back move bringing fullback Kenton Poelzer into the centres. Kenton made a nice break and speedy Dylan Mason was quick to collect the ball off the tackle, use his dummy fake and burst through one on one with the Clan fullback.  A nice sidestep and straight arm put him clear to score.  Wade Moore converted to give the Titans the 7 -3 lead.

At the 19 minute mark the team suffered a tremendous blow when captain, Dan Meikle went down at a ruck with a serious neck injury.  The game was delayed as Dan was gently transfered to ambulance.  He spent two nights in hospital where a ruptured vertebrae in his neck was assessed.  It the time of this writing Dan is to be release from hospital Monday to return home where he will be re-assessed.  A supportive neck brace will likely make it hard for Dan to put a necktie on for the banquet Sept. 29 but he should be alright.  We all send our best wishes to Dan, our brave captain, for a speedy and complete recovery.

The Titans' defense was strained under the difficulty of defending against the wind but enough pressure was applied to keep the Clan off the scoreboard. Half time score was 7 - 3 Titans and the wind would be to our backs in the second half.

The Club started off well with Jon Mauro making  a nice burst through but a long pass to the wing failed to find Titan hands and the chance was lost.  It was about the five minute mark that the wind died down and the Titans began to experience trouble at the scrum. Unable to win quality ball the boys could not put the boot to the ball to gain field position.  At the ten minute mark the Clan scored in the corner after a series of phases and took the lead 8 -7.

At the 25 minute point the Titans were putting on a good section of play together working out of their own end to the halfway line hogging the ball through many phases.  Then disaster struck as the Clan intercepted and a 50 m. sprint to the corner give the Edmonton squad 13- 7 lead.  At this point the Titans were still just one breakaway from victory but at 34 minutes Dylan Mason received a yellow card for reaching over the ruck and the Clan kicked the resulting penalty to put the Titans behind the eight ball 16 - 7.  Playing a man short at the scrum proved too much for the Red Deer team and time ran out.

The Titans will now play for the Shield when they meet the Rams on Sept. 8 in Calgary in the semi-final.  Train hard and win, boys!

In Men's Third Division Rob Reger scored the lone try for the team while Scott Blundon converted and Greg Hitchcock added a penalty to account for the ten points the boys scored. It was particularly disappointing to see so many players unavailable for the sudden death playoff match especially after the team had put on a late season surge to win three in a row. Next year will require more commitment from the boys to take the team farther into the post season

Titans Survey for Off-Season
and 2008

All players, men and women,  are asked to attend training over the next two weeks at the usual time to prepare for the Shield Playoff and Womens' Calgary Championship Sept. 8 and prepare for next season. The Executive would like everyone to complete the Survey at the Club to communicate their intentions for 2008.  This will help establish goals for off-season training for individual players and provide the club executive with information to help plan.  Fund raising with security will also be addressed in the Survey so we can better maximize our opportunities to raise money for next season.

Titans 35th Annual Awards Night, Banquet and Dance - Sat., Sept. 29 at the Officers' Mess at the Armouries off 55th Street.  Cost - $35 per person, all tickets must be bought in advance.  If you want to use your credits a sign up sheet will be established at the Club.  All members are invited.