Caribs Rugby Football Club secured the Toyota Championship Division League title for the 2010 season with a 34-13 victory over the Harvard Club at the Queen's Park Savannah on Saturday. The final score in no way reflected the heart shown by the younger and less-experienced Harvard squad and it was without question that several of their players would have grown in the game for having played in the encounter. Harvard certainly did improve on their first round encounter against the perennial champions when they lost 44-10 in a largely one sided affair, as they matched Caribs in both defence and attack in the first half. The score remained locked at 12-10 in favour of Caribs for quite some time with Caribs' points coming through tries from Jason Clark and Ronald Silverthorne with one conversion by Kendall Mootoo. Meanwhile Harvard's hardworking Number Eight Rowell C Gordon scored their lone try which was converted by their Guyanese Number10 Ryan Hinkson.
Hinkson also slotted a penalty from a difficult angle to keep them in the hunt, he would repeat from an easier vantage on the stroke of half time to send his team into the break one point ahead. Harvard's forwards worked very hard to stop Caribs' forward progression but it was always going to be difficult to contain back row players Graeme Alkins and English hard man James Ryan who consistently hit the line like battering ramps. As the game wore on, the Harvard players lost the battle of attrition. In the second half, after giving everything, Harvard could no longer contain the Caribs' onslaught and any time the white and red entered the opposition 22m zone, it rarely took more than three phases to score.
Silverthorne scored his second try seven minutes into the second half, Andre Cabera also got on to the score-sheet and Ryan "Bumpy" Brown powered his way to a try whose conversion led to a freak accident of sorts. As a Harvard player was jumping to prevent the kick from going over, he accidentally dislodged the crossbar on the posts causing it to fall onto the touch judge resulting in injury. Caribs now look forward to the "winner take all" encounter against Trinidad Northern Rugby Football Club, where that single game shall decide the team that progresses to the Marcus Minshall Cup final against Harvard and who will hold the much coveted Bruno Brown Cup for the 2010 season. Caribs and Northern drew 5-5 last weekend in their semifinal. There shall be a lot at stake on November 20 for both these teams.