The Gibsons Pigs Men's Rugby team dropped its season opener last Saturday by two points at Elphinstone Secondary School.
The Kats from West Vancouver upended the Pigs 12-10 in a closely played match.
The game was pretty sloppy at times and you could tell both teams were trying to work out some off-season rust.
Around 25 minutes into the first half, Gibsons opened the scoring. A long run set up the try as Jim Peers picked up a loose ball and scampered the final 20 yards, just breaking the line and getting into the end zone.
The kick failed, giving the Pigs a 5-0 lead.
The score remained that way until early in the second half when the Kats jumped on the board. Some good work by the Kats set up the score as they controlled the ball virtually the whole way down the field. Kats kicked the conversion, making the score 7-5.
A few more Gibsons missed tackles allowed Kats another opportunity to score, and they punched it in.
The Kats missed the conversion to lead 12-5 with about 20 minutes to go in the game.
Gibsons re-grouped and had several good possessions down the field. They were finally rewarded with a try from Chris Lumsden to cut the lead to 12-10 with about 10 minutes to play.
With mere seconds left on the clock, Gibsons was awarded a penalty kick for the win, but just missed it wide of the posts giving the Kats a hard-fought victory.
Following the game, player/coach Ray Dow emphasized the positives of the game to the squad.
"It was a good game and it's easy to focus on the negatives," Dow said in a post-game huddle with the team. "It was sloppy and at times our timing was off, but that will come and we'll get better next week. We know we need to get better and we will. This is going to be a good team. Everyone needs to come to practice and work out the rust."
Saturday's contest started with a pre-game ceremony honouring several veteran Pigs' players.
John Rainer has created the legends award as a way to honour past members of the club. The award will be handed out at the start of every season at Gibsons first home game.
Rainer presented the inaugural award to players Leif Mjanes, Jim Peers Sr. and Jack Tiernan.
"Some of the young guys don't know a lot of these guys or the contributions they have made," Rainer said. "This is a chance to give appreciation to the guys who made this club what it is today and hopefully help to raise the profile of the club."
Gibsons returns to action today (Sept. 18) with a game against Chilliwack at Elphi. The Pigs then hit the road for three games, Sept. 25 against the Blues, Oct. 2 against the Surrey Beavers and Oct. 16 in Kelowna.
