The wait is over. St. Thomas University has won its first Battle of the Hill in eight years against a UNB team that convincingly won by over 40 points a month ago. The St. Thomas Tommies walked away Saturday with a 24-19 victory over the Ironmen after a muddy game that left players on the field bruised and exhausted.
Captain Johnny Cullen opened the scoring 20 minutes in with a penalty goal after UNB left their feet at the breakdown. However, UNB would put in two tries and convert one to take a 12-3 lead going into halftime. Shortly after, Cullen broke through UNB again on a 50-metre dash to touch down and converted his own try. As the rain poured down, the Ironmen punched in another try to take a 19-10 lead with 30 minutes to play. With alumni looking on STU was able to suck in the defenders enough for Cullen to squeak in once more. Again, Cullen was good with the kick to pull STU within 2 points.
After an Austin Comeau kick that led to a chase-down at the UNB goal line, players started punching each other and players from each team were removed from the field. As STU pounded away, they maintained enough possession to win repeated penalties at the breakdown. After the same infringement occurred in succession, UNB lost a player to the sin-bin while defending their own goal line. STU elected to run the penalty and after two phases Sam Wakefield got over the try-line to give STU the lead with 15 minutes to play in front of a chaotic crowd. Cullen was again good with the boot and tallied 19 points on the day.
“Every man knew he had to protect the ball with his life,” said Rob McMichael, the veteran third-year fly-half for the Tommies. “At half time, our coaches just had so much faith in us. The commitment shown is such a big factor. We’ve become more than a group of guys.”
The onslaught by UNB was held up by a determined Tommie defense, and STU was able to get the win.
“It’s a fantastic feeling. We’ve been building towards it for a few years,” said STU head coach Jon Wilson. “When we were given a red card, we could have folded, but the guys took it as motivation and put on their work boots. This group of players is out to win. From top to bottom they all believe they can be the best.”
The win sets up a likely all-Fredericton Championship game between STU and UNB. The Tommies now set their sights on a Friday night game in Mount Allison in two weeks time. STU now sits 3-2 on the season.
