Ryan Hinckson scored a late penalty to secure Harvard Rugby Club's place at the top of the six-team T&T Rugby Football Union (T&T Rugby Football Union) T&TRFU Toyota Championship Division table, with a 16-13 victory over Stag Trinidad Northern, on Saturday.
It was the only Championship Division match to kick off on the day, with Royalians and Rainbow playing their match yesterday, which concluded after press time. Caribs, the traditional title favourite, which also held the lead before the start of the match day, was on a bye, leaving it to trail Harvard by three points, but with a match in hand. Harvard was lucky to take away the four-point victory, after grinding out an unimaginative and sloppy, but vital win in search of its first ever senior rugby title.
Harvard and Northern finished the first half tied 5-5, with tries from Tariq Cheekes and Gordon Dalgliesh, respectively. The winning team took advantage early in the second half as Hinckson scored a try and a penalty, which put them up 13-5. Northern, however, responded with a penalty and try of their own through Justin McLean and Adam Seedansingh, which again levelled the scores. But, Hinckson, playing in an unconventional fly-half position on the day, stepped up, with less than ten minutes left, to seal the win with a clinical penalty. The Under-17 Harvard green outfit was also in action on Saturday and sealed five easy points after disposing Royalians 55-5. Rydieus, meanwhile, continued to struggle in the same division, as Northern won by a similarly uneven 53-7 scoreline.
Scores
Championship Division
Harvard 16 (Tariq Cheekes 1 try, Ryan Hinckson 1 try, 2 pens) v Northern 13 (Gordon Dalgliesh 1 try, Justin McLean 1 pen, Adam Seedansingh 1 try)
Under-17 Division
Harvard 55 (Shaquille Dyte 4 tries, 1 conv, Shaquille Lucas 1 try, 4 conv, Tevin sHort 1 try, Aaron Eugene 1 try, Nduka Bailey 1 try) v Royalians 5 (Jonatyhan Blackman 1 try, D'Jivon Boyce 1 conv)
Northern 53 (Jamie Ablack 4 tries, Jordan Rodriguez 1 try, Justin Rajkumar 1 try, 6 conv, Gehron Gill 4 tries) v Rydieus 7 (Kevin Francis 1 try, Marcus Manoo 1 conv)
