Jamin Hodgkins played a pivotal role as his Pacific Pride Academy teammates defeated Westshore RFC 17-15 at Starlight Stadium in Langford, British Columbia, in a closely contested Men's Premier League match.
Westshore took an early lead in the 23rd minute when Alvin Otieno went blindside and found Johnstone Olindi on the wing for a try from 10 meters out. Thomas Isherwood converted from a difficult angle, giving Westshore a 7-0 advantage.
After 33 minutes, the Pride earned a penalty and kicked to the corner. From the ensuing lineout, the ball went to Karl Hunger, a maul formed, and hooker Austin Creighton took it over at the back. Hodgkins converted the try, leveling the score at 7-7, which remained the score at halftime.
The Pride struck first in the second half when Westshore failed to clear effectively from their own 22. Fullback Ty Driscoll jumped on the weak clearing kick and went into contact. From the first phase ball after the ruck, it went to Hodgkins, who battled through a couple of tackles and offloaded to openside Taine Clague. Clague beat a couple of defenders to score, and Hodgkins converted, putting the Pride ahead 14-7 in the 50th minute.
Westshore responded spectacularly five minutes later with a length-of-the-field try. Isherwood collected the ball on his own goal line from a well-weighted kick, passed to the wing, received it back, and the ball then went from hand to hand until it found Alvin Otieno on the opposite wing for a try. The conversion was missed, which ultimately proved to be the difference in the match. The teams then exchanged penalties, with Hodgkins connecting for the Pride, bringing the score to 17-15 in their favor.
Hodgkins finished the day with seven points, contributing significantly to his team's narrow victory.
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