Photo: Newcomer Nathan Townley was one of a number of Reapers to score a try in Saturday’s game. Both he and Mitchel John scored their first as members of the Reapers, as well.
- Robb Fenton Photo
By Robb Fenton
It was a perfect homecoming for the Lloydminster Accurate Machining Reapers.
After being away from E.S. Laird field and dropping a sluggish game on the road in early June, the Reapers returned home and put together a near-perfect win against the visiting Saskatoon Krems, walking away with a 43-3 win, Saturday afternoon.
“I’m really happy with the defence. We talked all week about stopping them from scoring trys and we did that pretty well. We couldn’t have asked for a much better defensive effort,” Reapers head coach Dean Murten said.
“There are still a few things we can fine tune, but I’m really impressed with the defence.”
While defence was the focus of the game and was what the Reapers worked on all week, the offence clicked Saturday as well, putting up 22 first half points and 21 in the second half.
“The attack was really good. We had lots of good combinations that were working and once we can find a hole and put someone through, we’ll start to score some good trys like we did. We had really impressive attacking play,” Murten said.
A balanced attack was the reason the Reapers were able to put up 43 points as they had a number of players score trys, including the newcomers, Mitchel John and Nathan Townley, who each scored their first as Reapers.
“It’s great. When you have a good pack you can suck in the defence and once you’ve sucked them in, there’s lots of holes out there,” Murten said. “With the two new Welsh guys and Willie (Hensen), it’s exactly what we want to do – spread the ball wide. There is a time and place to do it and we got the right balance.”
For one of the new players, who has only been a part of the Reapers for less than a week, his first game and first win was great to be a part of.
“It was a very good win. It felt good, a good team win,” Townley said.
“We have to work a little more on our discipline, but as a whole, we did very well.”
There were some surprises for Townley, who didn’t anticipate the Canadian weather, but after playing in his first game, he’s looking forward to the rest of the season.
“It was good, it was very physical and hot. I wasn’t expecting it to be this hot to be honest, but all in all, it was good and should be fun next week,” he said.
Both John and Townley found the endzone, which made the game even that much better for the two.
“It’s always nice to get the first try in your debut game and the boys were so supportive of us, so it feels good,” he said.
Murten was very impressed with his two new players who made an immediate impact and fit in very nicely with not only the game plan the Reapers want to implement, but also the personnel who are on the field.
“When you’ve got a skill level that high you can make things happen. And that’s what those guys did, they used their time on the ball,” Murten said.
Overall, battling a few injuries and having a few new players in the lineup didn’t stop the Reapers from being dominant and coming away with a win.
“I’m really happy with the performance and we’ll just keep building,” Murten said.
Next scheduled action for the Reapers is July 8 in Saskatoon against the Wild Oats.