POLAR BEARS CLINCH YIT PREMIERSHIP

26 Sep 2011

Tromso Polar Bears were crowned champions of Norway after an ultimately convincing 40-14 victory over Flisbyen in Lillestrom. The score didn't reflect the intensity of the match as both sides were committed to a grandstand finishto the YIT Premiership. Both teams put on some massive hits which thrilled the small but vocal crowd and with only 15 minutes left Tromsø were up by only 12-6.

The first try of the match came after 5 minutes when Tromsø forward Mads Haukland used good footwork and showed great strength in carrying three men over the line. Ten minutes later they were in again when captain Isaac Schmidt crossed the line after a line break from hooker Kristoffer Milligan. Flisbyen’s industry was rewarded with a try just before halftime, scored by second row Lars Haigh to make it a six-point game.

The second half was dominated by the defensive vigour of both teams, until with 15 minutes to go Flisbyen tired after defending their line for three consecutive sets. Tromsø stand off Trent Rowan got through the Flisbyen line to score outwide. Exhausted and deflated, Flisbyen let the floodgates open when Tromsø scored a further two tries, both to fullback Callum Sullivan. Flisbyen fought back bravely with six minutes to go through tries from Joakim Svensson and Lars haigh's second, but another late try to Tromsø's Henrik Roalsø put the game out of reach for the Broncos.

Tromsø captain Schmidt said: "I think we always had the belief that we could win and we focused on being one unit and today we did that well. I am speechless at how tough both mentally and physically our guys were today. Flisbyen were unlucky today but our guys were just awesome".