GUELPH, Ont. – The Guelph Gryphons men's rugby team has mostly had things go their way in the first half of the OUA season. But the 2017 silver medalists faced a bit of adversity on their home pitch Friday night. The Gryphons dug deep and scored three late trys to surge past the Waterloo Warriors in a tough 38-14 victory on a windy night at Varsity Field.

Fourth-year flanker Marcello Wainwright scored two of Guelph's three second-half trys, with Cameron Hurst adding another. 

It definitely wasn't an easy night for the hosts, who had to deal with a motivated Warriors side and extreme wind in the first half. The Gryphons started well as Erich Milne touched down in the 8th minute for an early 5-0 lead though the convert was missed. Waterloo would answer with a penalty kick but Guelph went up 12-3 later in the half on a Kolby Francis try.

The Warriors didn't seem too troubled and with the wind at their back, pressured the Gryphons. The visitors kept it competitive with a try in the 27th minute and then a Mitch Voralek penalty kick in the 40th minute to send the teams into halftime with Guelph ahead 19-11. The Warriors seized momentum with another Voralek penalty kick in the 59th minute but that was it from the Warriors on the scoring front.

Guelph made some key substitutions and took full advantage of a Waterloo yellow card. The Gryphons grabbed the match back with three straight trys, the first from Wainwright in the 69th minute. Hurst touched down about three minutes later before Wainwright closed it out with another try in the 80th minute.
 
Turning point
 Wainwright has been a force for the Gryphons through their first four matches and he showed up again Friday. His 69th-minute try was timely, propelling Guelph to a dominant final 11 minutes of play.

Gryphon Take
"We weren't able to play with the same pace that we have been used to and as a result, our attack sputtered and we made mistakes. Our subs came on and were asked to make a difference. And they did. They were able to raise the pace. The boys showed a lot of resiliency. We were in tough and easily could have crumbled but our leaders stepped up." – head coach Cory Hector
 
The Record
Guelph is 4-0.
 
Next up
Queen's, Friday, Sept. 28, 7 pm @ Varsity Field
 

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Scoring Summary
 

Minute	University	Type of Score	Player	Convert	Match Score
8'	Guelph	Try	E. Milne	Missed	5-0 Guelph
18'	Waterloo	Penalty Kick	M. Voralek		5-3 Guelph
22'	Guelph	Try	K. Francis	Good (Van Der Westhuizen)	12-3 Guelph
27'	Waterloo	Try	J. Henderson	Missed	12-8 Guelph
34'	Guelph	Try	J. Hofstra	Good (Van Der Westhuizen)	19-8 Guelph
40'	Waterloo	Penalty Kick	M. Voralek		19-11 Guelph
59'	Waterloo	Penalty Kick	M. Voralek		19-14 Guelph
69'	Guelph	Try	M. Wainwright	Good (Burton)	26-14 Guelph
72'	Guelph	Try	C. Hurst	Good (Burton)	33-14 Guelph
80'	Guelph	Try	M. Wainwright	Missed	38-14 Guelph