Caribs Rugby Football Club came from behind to capture the Toyota T&T Rugby Football Union (TTRFU) Championship Division Title along with the Bruno Browne trophy with a dramatic 13-10 win over archrivals Stag Trinidad Northern on Sunday.Northern was slightly consoled by their capturing of the Raffie Hosein Cup in the earlier match of the double header, which took place at the Queen's Park Oval, Port-of-Spain.Despite needing only a draw to retain the Championship title, Caribs went all out, finishing with four points ahead nearest challengers Harvard, in front of scores of electric supporters.
From the beginning, the "Beer Boys" pressed on their opponents, giving little room to allow the Northern attack through any gap, despite the latter having the marity of time with the ball.Within three minutes, however, Northern took the lead through a clinical Jusin Mc Clean penalty kick.Caribs, then responded with a penalty of their own to level the scoring at 3-3 at the half.Northern were to rue an uncharacteristic penalty effort, which smashed off the post from Mc Clean, in the first period.At the restart, the Bruno Browne holders, Northern, retook the lead within five minutes when Gordon Dalglish made no mistake touching down for a try. Mc Clean then converted to put Northern up, 10-3.
The lead was short lived, however, as Caribs found a response from a try and conversion from Jason Clarke and Rory Mc Inerney, respectively, levelling the scores at ten a piece.With time running out, Caribs took their first lead of the match from a drop goal scored by Mc Inerney, putting the team up by three points.Moments of pressure from the Northern players followed, as the team had no intentions of letting go of the Bruno Browne title.But the scoring was finished, and at blow of the final whistle, the Caribs players immediately ran in jubilation to the stands, to acknowledge the supporters, who sported red jerseys with the number 13, in a fitting tribute to Kendall Mootoo.
Just before the match kicked off, the Northern and Caribs' players, along with the scores of fans observed a moment of silence in memory of the former national and Caribs player, Mootoo who passed away last week.The Northern fans were left to celebrate a 17-10 win over Caribs in Raffie Hosein Cup, played two hours earlier.Sponsors of the event were: Carib, Stag, Sagicor, FT Farfan, Shell Helix, Helix Energy Solutions Group, BIDCO Ltd, Ceramic Trinidad, Jaffa at the Oval and Rubbermaid.
Final Standings
Team Pld W D L Bonus F A PTS
Caribs 10 8 0 1 7 286 67 44
Harvard 10 8 0 2 8 365 139 40
Stag Northern 10 7 0 3 8 252 82 35
Royalians 10 4 0 6 4 182 258 20
Rainbow 10 1 0 8 1 108 302 5
Police 10 0 0 10 0 17 362 0
