It wasn’t to be for the Alexandra Armadillos premier rugby team at the weekend against the Upper Clutha Rams, but there were still plenty of reasons to celebrate.

Captain James Dobson, filling in for Tyler Ford who was injured, picked up his 100th match for the club and was also named ‘man of the match’ by the Alexandra coaches.

In another surprise Tyler was named Central Otago Premier Player of the Year.

A crowd of 3000 came to support both teams in Wānaka, making it the first win for the Rams since 2018.

After triumphing over Wakatipu to secure their spot in the Central Otago Premier Rugby competition final on Saturday, the Armadillos were just not strong enough for the Rams, with the final score 46-10.

Tyler said the Armadillos played to their strengths, but the Rams were just the better team on the day.

“It was good that the boys put in all that effort and played well.”

James said it was an honour to captain the team in the final, but it was definitely a “massive hurdle” to overcome not having Tyler on the field playing.

Tyler tore his medial collateral ligament (MCL) in the semi-final against Wakatipu, and was hoping he didn’t need surgery, but said he would definitely be back again next season.

The Armadillos have played the Upper Clutha Rams twice this season, losing 24-28 in Tarras on June 15 as well as earlier in the season.

In Tarras they were down 20 points and managed to come back in the last 20 minutes to almost even the score.

Last season Alexandra had a stunning final against the Rams, making it their first competition win since 2015. 

On Saturday the team dominated early on but after 20 minutes it was the Rams ahead by 6-3 followed by three quick tries to then push them ahead 25-3 at half time.

Alexandra came back to dominate again early in the second half before a length of the field break-out by the Rams led to hooker Scott Cunningham scoring to extend the Rams’ lead to 32-3.