The foot of Sam Davenport has propelled the Bateman Timberwolves junior boys rugby team to the provincial final on Friday.
Trailing 19-17 to the St. George’s Saints in the dying moments of Wednesday’s provincial semi-final game, an offside call led to a penalty kick opportunity for Bateman.
Davenport lined the ball up, took a deep breath and booted the ball through the uprights to clinch the dramatic win for the Timberwolves.
Bateman never led in the game and were down 12-10 at halftime, but kept the score close. The Saints went up 19-10 with about 10 minutes to go, but the Timberwolves scored a try and an extra point to make it 19-17. The penalty kick then sealed the deal with no time remaining on the clock.
Davenport was a huge factor in the win, kicking two penalty kicks and adding two successful converts.
The win advances Bateman to Friday’s provincial final, where they will take on the Shawnigan Lake Stags at Rotary Stadium at 5:30 p.m.
The senior boys provincial tournaments also kicked off on Wednesday at Rotary Stadium and the surrounding fields, with several Abbotsford teams in the mix.
The AAA Tier I conference saw the Yale Lions edge the South Delta Sun Devils 13-12 to advance to the provincial semi-final.
South Delta led early, but similar to Bateman, the Lions Jayden Ned was successful on a late penalty kick to give Yale the win. Josh Radons and Keifer Bernier scored tries for the Lions.
Yale will now take on Langley’s R.E. Mountain today (Thursday) at noon. A win in that game and they advance to the provincial final, which occurs at Rotary Stadium on Saturday at 3 p.m.
The W.J. Mouat Hawks remain in the title hunt for the AAA Tier 1 crown after a convincing 43-12 win over Elgin Park on Wednesday.
Mouat takes on Carson Graham today at 4 p.m. in the provincial semi-final.
The AA Tier 1 title hopes were dashed for Bateman after falling 24-20 to R.A. McMath on Wednesday. The Timberwolves now take on Nanaimo District today at 3 p.m. The best the club can now hope for is fifth overall.
Visit abbynews.com for continuing coverage of the event.
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