Quad Rugby/Story - 9th Annual Demolition Derby

UNITED STATES QUAD RUGBY ASSOCIATION

February, 2005

Focus Prevails at the Ninth Derby

When was the first time a tournament started at 12:00 noon on Friday and Saturday and was done by 6:00 PM? The late night crowd and the west coasters recognized the valuable sleep time. The goal was to allow all teams to be focused and let the best rugby prevail.

The ninth annual Lakeshore Foundation “Demolition Derby” Wheelchair Rugby Invitational was held January 28-30, 2005, in Birmingham, Alabama. Six top-ranked US teams (#2 Texas, #3 Lakeshore, #4 Hoveround, #5 San Diego, #7 Portland and #9 TNT) and the Canadian and Swedish National Teams were poised to earn the Derby title.

It was all or nothing competition on the first day of the Demolition Derby. Friday’s games produced 4 undefeated and 4 winless teams. The Texas Stampede, Hoveround Lightning, Team Canada, and the host Lakeshore Demolition each ended the day without a loss.

The Lightning downed San Diego, 34-29, and Team Sweden, 37-20; Texas took down TNT, 43-37, and Portland, 47-36; Team Canada defeated TNT, 51-31, and Portland, 52-36; and the home team Demolition took care of San Diego, 42-29, and Team Sweden, 37-23.

The second day of competition featured many close contests and plenty of bonus rugby action.

The highlight of the day’s matches was the 5-overtime thriller between the Hoveround Lightning and the home team Lakeshore Demolition. The game was tightly contested throughout regulation and the fourth period ended at 35-35. Two goals apiece in the first overtime, and no scoring in the second, put the game into a third overtime period, knotted up at 37-37.

With less than 10 seconds remaining in the third overtime, Lakeshore threw a deep pass to a wide-open Willard Brooks, but Brooks was unable to cross the goal line before time expired. The Lightning and the Demolition were headed to quadruple overtime, all tied up at 40-40.

Lakeshore veteran Bryan Kirkland scored right off the tip in the fourth overtime and he scored again with just under 1 minute to go, putting the Demolition up 44-43. Lightning big man Ross Morrison answered Kirkland’s goal, tying the game 44-44. With less than 30 seconds remaining, Lakeshore had a chance to score for the win, but Hoveround’s Pat O’Connor stole the ball from Brooks just in front of the goal line. The Lightning failed to capitalize on the turnover and the game was headed for its fifth overtime period.

Kirkland stepped up to lead his team, in what would be the final frame, scoring all 4 Lakeshore goals in the fifth overtime. After the Lightning’s O’Connor tied the game at 47-47, Kirkland went end-to-end with less than 10 seconds remaining in the game to score the winning goal. Lakeshore advanced to the semi-finals to face the Texas Stampede with a 48-47 quintuple overtime victory over the Hoveround Lightning. Kirkland led all scorers with 26 goals.

Lakeshore could not recover from the marathon contest against the Lightning. The Demolition fell to the Texas Stampede in the semi-finals, 43-31. In other semi-final action, the Lightning played another close match, this time taking on 2004 Paralympic silver medallists, Team Canada. Hoveround nearly forced another overtime game, but Garett Hickling scored the winning goal with 0.3 seconds left in regulation to give Canada the victory, 21-20.

Play wrapped up on Sunday with controversy in the battle to stay out of last place and an intensely contested match to take home the title.

TNT clashed with Team Sweden in the 7th/8th place game and, although it was not the feature game of the day, it provided the most excitement. TNT had been down by as much as five, but staged a comeback to tie the game 33-33 and force overtime. In the second, and what appeared to be the final overtime period, TNT came away with a 38-35 lead, and what they thought was the win. But, Sweden protested the second overtime, claiming TNT’s Cliff Chunn was let out of the penalty box too early. The protest was upheld and the second overtime was replayed.

TNT left no doubt that their first win over Sweden was the real deal. TNT capitalized on several Sweden turnovers and Chunn scored 4 goals in the replayed second overtime, giving TNT a decisive 40-35 victory to capture 7th place.

The championship game matched up undefeated Team Canada against the Texas Stampede, whose only loss in the Derby came at the hands of the Canadians. The first half was a back-and-forth defensive battle, until Canada gave themselves some breathing room with about 2:00 to go in the 2nd period, taking a 4 goal lead. Canada had the 17-13 lead going into halftime.

Texas began the third period with two quick goals by Mark Zupan, but they couldn’t keep pace with the Canadians on the offensive end. Also, tournament MVP Ian Chan poured it on for Canada, scoring 7 of his 10 goals in the second half. Canada emerged with the 34-31 victory and the 9th Annual Lakeshore Demolition Derby championship.

In the other consolation games, the Lakeshore Demolition defeated the Hoveround Lightning 1-0 by virtue of a forfeit (player injuries) to take third place and the San Diego Bushwackers took down the Portland Pounders, 35-32, for fifth.

Special thanks to the Lakeshore Foundation, Eagle Sportschairs, Birmingham Coca Cola Bottling Co., IRC Tires and Transportation South for their support. The teams, officials and volunteers made this a great tournament. We are looking forward to next year. For information on next year’s event please contact Kevin Orr at (205) 313-7422.

Full Results

Photos by John Ershek

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