BRITISH COLUMBIA v BARLA U23

Another great venue for this game and both teams were confident of victory. BC Bulldogs Head Coach Luke Gray was Coaching for the last time in Canada and his team wanted to send him off with a win against the odds

The Lions were very confident of completing their tour undefeated and started off trying to unsettle the Bulldogs pack. Despite their best efforts the well-disciplined Bulldogs pack just continued to move forward and present opportunities.

Hashem Mirlohi was unstoppable close to the tryline and it was no surprise to see him score first points early in the game with a run that skittled the Lion's players. The conversion was unsuccessful, but it wasn't long before Bulldogs's Hooker Jack Cousins threw a dummy and fooled the England players by diving over for a try which was converted by Bulldogs Captain Daniel Blasco-Morris to make the score 10-0.

Continual poor handling left the Lions having to do a lot of tackling and Bulldogs skipper Daniel Blasco-Morris took a few defenders with him as he crossed for a try out wide. He was unable to convert but was having a great game both in attack and defence.

The Bulldogs then had a huge disappointment as Prop Forward Chris Seyler, who had been the best prop on the field, was carried off with a knee injury that will now keep him out of the World Cup Qualifiers.

Just before the half time siren the Lions threw the ball wide, taking their opportunity, and scoring a top try out wide to make the half time score 14-4.

The England Young Lions got some confidence out of their try before half time and came out fired up and intent on getting on top of the Bulldogs pack. Unfortunately their player's niggling tactics came undone when one forward was sent off for punching.

The next ten minutes saw tempers rising and after an altercation involving 3 players one from each team, Jordon Siddons (Lions) & Nick Bruce (Bulldogs) were sent off and one other Lions player Keiron Jones was put on report.

This seemed to settle things down for a while and the Lions went on the attack to make the score 14-10 with a converted try. Almost immediately after this the Bulldogs steamed down the field and it was big forward Hashem Mirolhi who brushed aside the Lion's players to score another important try out wide. The conversion was once again unsuccessful and the score was 18-10 coming into the final part of the 2nd half.

The Lions were a very talented team and were not giving up and with only 3 minutes on the clock scored another great try, which was converted to bring it back to a 2 point difference 18-16.

England had one last play from the kick off and made it back to the half way line but then the Bulldogs retained possession and were closing in on the Lion's try line but the full time siren stopped their progress.

It was a very tough battle throughout the game and both teams should be congratulated for putting on a gutsy display. The BC Bulldogs once again have upset a touring team and came away winners with loads of players who deserved a mention.

Rick Schouten, Jamie Kelly & Captain Daniel Blasco-Morris were sensational while Seyler in the first half & Adam Timler in the 2nd half had big games.

However Man of the Match was definitely Hashem Mirlohi who was almost unstoppable all game

BC BULLDOGS
Nathaniel Silva, Kevin Gurniak, Jason Hignell, Rick Schouten, Kelepi Funilagi Gucake, Daniel Blasco-Morris, Nathan Hannam, James Kelly, Jack Cousins, Christopher Seyler, Hashem Mirlohi, Ben Drikibau, Gurvinder Kalar, Joshua Ladd, Andrew Crandell, Adam Timler, Scyler Dumas, Nicholas Bruce, Paul Kelly, Al Mac

BARLA U23
Sam Ottewell, Nathan Hill, Braden Hunter, Brett Barlow, Jordan Darwin, Kieren Jones, Joe Bold, Ryan Bowie, Tom Wilkinson, Brad Hailes, Gavin Rodden, Jordan Siddons, Connor Ratcliffe, Gareth Nicholson, Martyn Reilly, Charles Tyson, Bradan French, Toby Richardson, Jordan Woodend, Adam Allerton