Toronto City Saints Enoch Wamalwa takes on the Tigers Andrew Rose
The First Round of the 2016 ORL Championship kicked of on a cold and wet day at Lamport Stadium in Toronto with the Toronto City Saints taking on the Burlington Tigers and perennial powerhouses Toronto Centurions and the Brantford Broncos in a much anticipated opening round clash.
In the first game of the day, the debutante Burlington Tigers faced last years Grand Finalists, the Toronto City Saints. Led by Wolverine and Wiseys Pies and Bakehouse, Man of the Match, Max Smillie who’s big hits troubled the Tigers all day and an outstanding four try performance from newcomer Josiah Morra the Team Canada Wolverines laden Saints were too strong for the inexperienced Tigers. The Tigers who were down 40 – 0 at the half time break battled hard all day and were rewarded with a well taken team try by Lucas Schoenfeldt and a much closer 18 – 6 second half scoreline.
Broncos Fullback Billy Gemmell steps inside the Centurions defence of Henry Miers and George Collett.
The second game of the day saw last years ORL Champions, the Toronto Centurions taking on a Brantford Broncos team who after getting close in 2014 & 2015 are very determined to go one step further and win their first ORL Championship. With both teams featuring a number of Wolverines, the game opened with a number of big hits and both teams scoring early opening tries. The remainder of the first half saw the teams trades tries with Steve Piatek’s goal kicking the difference as the Broncos went into half time leading 18-12. This trend continued in the second half with both teams again scoring early tries before the Broncos kicked it up a gear with Wiseys Pies & Bakehouse Man of the Match, Duncan Earl prominent with his great work rate and one on one defence and a two try and yet another faultless goal kicking display from Steve Piatek saw the Broncos dominate the final 30 minutes of the game, in the process scoring three tries and a well deserved 42-20 win.
Toronto City Saints 58
Tries (10): Josiah Morra (4), Jason Locke (2), Eddie Bilborough, Nick Hails, Enoch Wamalwa, Simeon Charles
Goals (9): Nick Hails (9 from 10)
Burlington Tigers 6
Tries (1): Lucas Schoenfeldt
Goals (1): Denny McCarthy (1 from 1)
Wiseys Pies & Bakehouse Man of the Match: Max Smillie
Brantford Broncos 42
Tries (7): Steve Piatek (2), Erick Alvarado, Josh Kelly, Billy Gemmell, Joe Newman, Connor Oliver
Goals (7): Steve Piatek (7 from 7)
Toronto Centurions 20
Tries (4): Tony Felix, Josiah Morra, Jordan Henry, Michael Cregg
Goals (2): Tony Felix (1 from 2), Lukas Silver (1 from 2)
Wiseys Pies & Bakehouse Man of the Match: Duncan Earl
