A penalty kick on the last play of the game gave visiting Ridge Meadows a 20-18 win over the Gibsons Pigs last Saturday.
Gibsons played hard for the third time in four weeks, but saw its record fall to 1-2.
"There was lots of hard tackling on both sides of the ball," said Pigs club president Scott Fearnley. "It was our game to lose. To a man, if you ask anyone on our team if they'd like that game back, the answer would be yes."
Both teams traded the lead back-and-forth in a highly entertaining contest.
Heading into the game, Ridge Meadows had picked up three fairly easy wins. But the Pigs gave them everything they could handle and then some.
"They acknowledged after the game that it was their toughest game to date," Fearnley said. "The game turned in the first half. They had only 12 players and had we been able to run on them a bit more and wear them down, it could have been a different outcome. They got six players at halftime who were late and missed the first ferry over here. That injected a bit of fresh legs into their line-up."
Fearnley said despite the setback, he's encouraged by the team's play.
"In general, the back was solid and our scrums and rucking were both great," he said. "We didn't dominate as much in our line-outs. I'll take the heat for some of those. I admit I didn't play as well as I have been. I think we're still getting used to playing with each other. We have some news guys in the line-up. We need more practice time. "So far, we've been in every game. The scores have been tight and we're playing well. If we continue to play this way, the wins will come."
Gibsons will try to turn things around with a game against the Scribes set for Saturday at 11:30 a.m. at Cougar Field.
