SHERBROOKE, Que. – Nicolas Doyon's try halfway through extra time gave the Bishop's Gaiters a thrilling 33-26 win in an RSEQ men's rugby quarter-final at Coulter Field, Sunday.
 
"It's an amazing feeling", said the Lévis, Que., native. "100 minutes of rugby, a very hard game. Everyone played hard, [we had] big defence and we never gave up."
 
After Lee Hudson (Sutton, Que./Champlain-Lennoxville) (Sutton, Que.) made an interception in the Gaiters' end late in the first half of extra time, he flipped the ball out to Doyon, who ran 70 yards to pay dirt, as the Gaiters finally put away a pesky Stingers squad.
 
"I think Lee got a ball from a turnover and I saw this big gap and I called for it. Lee, being the smart player that he is, just offloaded a perfect ball to me and I had the whole field to go down," said Doyon, who plays summer ball for the Quebec Rugby Club. "I'm overwhelmed right now."
 
Bishop's (4-3-1, 3-3-1 RSEQ) led by as many as eight points in the second half, but a pair of late penalty goals by Concordia fly half Jonathan Banks, the last just before the final whistle blew, forced the 20 minutes of extra time.
 


The Gaiters opened the scoring in the 26^th minute, as Ewan Lawton (Halifax, England) took advantage of a pair of blocked kicks to push in a try from five yards out, and a conversion from his brother Patrick made the score 7-0.  Banks replied for the Stingers on the stroke of halftime, to cut the margin to 7-3.
 
Banks scored his second penalty of the game two minutes into the second half, pulling the Stingers to within one point. Ten minutes later, the Gaiters took their biggest lead of the day, 14-6, as Patrick Lawton (Halifax, England) scored a try off a quick restart from a Concordia penalty and then made the conversion.  The Stingers pulled back into the game in the 63rd minute as Craig Bowler pushed the ball over, culminating a series that saw the Stingers have several chances near the Bishop's goal line.
 
With the Gaiters holding on to their six-point lead, the Stingers elected to have Banks kick a penalty goal in the 77th minute, instead of trying to score a potential go-ahead try. The gamble paid off, as the Stingers drew another penalty in the 80th minute, setting up Banks' game-tying kick.
 
Early in extra time, the Stingers took their first lead of the game on a try by Julien Mackay-Cantin. Banks made a kick into the corner near the goal line, and Mackay-Cantin recovered the kick and put the ball down – and the Stingers up. Banks' conversion gave Concordia a 26-19 lead.
 
However, Gaiter captain Hudson tied the game up four minutes later, as he charged the ball in after a Concordia penalty five yards out from goal. Patrick Lawton's conversion tied the game, setting up Doyon's game-winning try, and the conversion by Josh Bray (Lennoxville, Que./Bishop's College School) that gave the Gaiters a seven-point lead.
 
Neither team troubled the scorers in the second half of extra time, as the Gaiters were able to defend their seven-point lead.
 
With the win, the Gaiters advance to the RSEQ semi-final, where they will face the McGill Redmen (6-1-0). Kickoff at Percival Molson Stadium is set for Saturday at 2 p.m.
 
Doyon, for his part is optimistic heading into next week's battle.
 
"We need to be fit, I think we are, and we're smart players. [We play] smart rugby, and if we play our game, we're going to win it."