By Jeff D’Andrea

Narrow loss for the Dragons

Jun 1, 2017 | 8:47 PM

The Saskatchewan Rivers technically got the victory by default on an incredibly humid Thursday at Prime Ministers’ Park over the Saskatoon All Blacks as the visitors did not have enough players.

But after the Dragons lent a few players to the All Blacks to have a match anyways, the Dragons fell 14-12.

The Dragons controlled most of the game, but two errors in the second half did them in.

“I thought it was a great game on both sides,” Dragons coach Darcy Murphy said. “We had a lot of young players out there, a lot of Grade 9 players, Grade 10 players so the young guys are doing a lot of great things, making some great decisions and playing quality rugby for guys their age. For a coach, that makes me smile and makes me happy.”

The Dragons controlled most of the first half, but left with only a 5-0 lead despite getting into the end-goal on three different occasions. The first one was called back for a penalty, the second was called back for a hold up, but finally third time was the charm as Mason Harris some daylight on the outside. The missed conversion proved costly, as this was the eventual difference in the game.

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The All-Blacks equalled the score early in the second half with a long distance try.

The Dragons seemed to get refocused after conceding a try. Right after a scrum deep in All Black territory, Jesse Mourot received a quick pass and punched it in for 14-12 advantage. Mourot kicked in his own convert as well, much to the delight of the Dragons’ faithful.

In the game’s dying moments, the All Blacks found pay dirt after holding possession deep in the Dragons’ half.

The next game for the Dragons is June 8 against the Saskatoon Springboks at Prime Ministers’ Park.

Jeff.dandrea@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @jeff_paNOW