MONTREAL – Owen Cumming of Toronto scored 20 points as McGill outlasted Ottawa 31-25 in a key Quebec university men's rugby matchup at Percival Molson Stadium, Saturday.
 
The Redbirds, who improved their third-place record to 3-1 with only two games left to play, tallied four tries to register a bonus point in the RSEQ standings. They now sit one point behind second-place Ottawa (3-2), which also earned a bonus for keeping the score to seven points or less.
 
Cumming, a 21-year-old political science senior who serves as co-president of the team, scored three first-half tries. He then added a conversion and a penalty goal in the second stanza. Fly-half Martin Laval, a management sophomore from Hong Kong, converted all three of Cumming's tries.
 
"It was an outstanding game by Owen who accounted for most of our scoring and consistently kicked us into strong field position," said McGill head coach Ian Baillie. "Ottawa opened the game strong and we spent five minutes under pressure in our half before conceding a well-worked try.

"We applied pressure on Ottawa keeping them in their own half for a long stretch of play with great line-out play and good ball carrier support. Credit to the Gee-Gees who stormed back in the second half and really stretched our defence, beating us out wide several times. Our goal was getting a bonus point win and we achieved that."

McGill appeared to take a commanding 21-10 lead into halftime but the Gee-Gees won the second half 15-10, scoring a try and a penalty goal in the last eight minutes. The penalty was a costly one for the home side, occurring in the final minute of play and resulting in the bonus point for the visitors.
 
McGill, which was without the services of leading scorer Monty Weatherall, also had to play a man short for 20 minutes after yellow cards were assessed to Maxime Rieuff (12th minute) and Karl Hunger (52nd minute).
 
"The boys showed great character being down a man and managed to work the ball into the Ottawa half and win a penalty goal kicked by Cumming," noted Baillie.

Thomas Richards, a psychology senior from the U.K., tallied McGill's fourth try early in the second half to put his troops ahead 28-10 after the conversion by Cummings. Richards also made an excellent defensive steal in the dying moments to end an Ottawa drive and secure the win.
 
Gee-Gees fly-half Jamie Armstrong paced his side with 10 points from two penalty kicks and a pair of conversions.

Benjamin Russell, an economics senior from the U.K., was forced to make three key try-saving tackles to preserve the win for McGill.
 
Ottawa had three different try scorers, namely Wahid Hamidi, Sam Mace and Duncan Hladik.
 
McGill plays at Bishop's (2-2) on Oct. 15 at 8:15 p.m., and will close out the regular season with a home-field rendezvous against last-place Sherbrooke (0-4) at Molson Stadium on Oct. 23 at 3 p.m.
 
STATS & DRESS ROSTER

RSEQ STATS & STANDINGS


SCORING SUMMARY
McGill 31, Ottawa 25
(at Percival Molson Stadium)

FIRST HALF:
1. OTT: Wahid Hamidi (TRY converted by Jamie Armstrong), 6' (Ottawa 7-0)
2. McG: Owen Cumming (TRY converted by Martin Laval), 9' (tie 7-7)
3. OTT: Jamie Armstrong (PENALTY-KICK), 17' (Ottawa 10-7)
4. McG: Owen Cumming (TRY converted by Martin Laval), 28' (McGill 14-10)
5. McG: Owen Cumming (TRY converted by Martin Laval), 34' (McGill 21-10)

SECOND HALF:
5. McG: Thomas Richards (TRY converted by Owen Cumming), 45' (McGill 28-10)
6. OTT: Sam Mace (TRY; converted by Jamie Armstrong), 51' (McGill 28-17)
7. McG: Owen Cumming (PENALTY-KICK), 63' (McGill 31-17)
8. OTT: Duncan Hladik (TRY; converted missed by Jamie Armstrong), 72' (McGill 31-22)
9. OTT: Jamie Armstrong (PENALTY-KICK), 80+' (McGill 31-25)

CARDS:
12' Maxime Rieuff, McGill (yellow)
52' Karl Hunger, McGill (yellow)


SOURCE:
Earl Zukerman
Sports Information Officer
Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
514-398-7012 (Off.)
m.athletics.mcgill.ca (mobile website)
www.mcgillathletics.ca
earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca