The P.E.I. Hunter’s Ale House Mudmen moved to 2-0 in Nova Scotia Senior Men’s Rugby League division 1 play after a 31-12 win over the Dartmouth PigDogs on Saturday in Summerside.
Phil Gallant of the Mudmen said it was important the Island side not look past Dartmouth to P.E.I.’s contest versus perennial rival the Halifax Tars next week in Halifax, N.S.
“We played well, but we also see we have a lot to work on. As much as you can’t look past a team it felt like a trap game knowing we face the Tars next week,” Gallant said. “We were able to stick together and weather the storm of a good Dartmouth side. Now we can put all our focus into next week.”
P.E.I. had a solid start, keeping a tough Dartmouth offence at bay with aggressive defence and not giving the visitors much time or space to operate. The Island squad held a 23-0 lead at half.
In the second half, Dartmouth used strong running in the centres to get on the board early and make the game 23-7, but P.E.I. held with hard running and solid tackling en route to the win.
The division 2 squad plays its first game Saturday in Eastern Shore. Game time is 2 p.m.
On the senior women’s side, the Charlottetown Rugby Football Club squad went to a Tier A-leading 3-0 following its close 45-39 road victory over the Valley Bulldogs on Saturday.
CRFC faces the Tars (3-0) Saturday, July 28, in Halifax at 3 p.m. after the Tier B team faces the Tars Tier B squad at noon.