LONDON, Ont. – A last second try in the final play of injury time gave the Guelph Gryphons the final few points they needed in order to top the Western Mustangs 22-18 on Friday afternoon at Alumni Field.
 
With the loss Western holds a 3-2-1 season record, while Guelph moves to 6-0.
 
"It was a hard fought game, for sure. Guelph is very good at playing expansively, getting the ball off," said Mustangs head coach Tom Dolezel. "Our boys did very well defensively, what cost us was a lack of discipline and breakdown. We got penalized too much, and Guelph was able to capitalize on that."
 
"We know that besides us the top teams in the league are Mac, Queen's and Guelph every year, so we knew they were going to be a tough contest," added Glen Thompson-Bullock. "We were prepared for them, I think we came out really strong this week. It's just a tough end to this game."

Mitchell Brant was the point leader for the Mustangs, recording two penalty goals ond one convert for eight points. Elliot Van Trappen and Michael Coldwells contributed one try each, while Cody Weese-Burton led the Gryphons with two converts and one penalty goal.

Both teams came out hard from the first whistle in what would become one of the most physical games the Mustangs have seen this season.
 
"Every year Guelph has a really great pack, you know they're scrums are going to be great and they'll run really hard lines," noted Thomson-Bullock. "But we were ready for that. Our forwards played great today. We were great in the scrum, great defensively. There were some phases there where we played defense for five, ten minutes and we held them."
 
According to Dolezel, Cole Sopik was one of the biggest contributors to the defence throughout the game.
 
Van Trappen was the first to put points on the board, but Guelph evened the score just two minutes later with a major from Ryan Brethour.
 
The remaining 34 minutes saw both side make strong runs, but neither was able to connect with the in-goal area. The Gryphons nearly added another five with 14 minutes left on the clock after a strong run from Eric Howard, only to have Thomson Bullock make a tackle just feet short.
 
One penalty goal from each team was added before the half, to head into the break tied at 8-8.
 
With the first half behind them, the Mustangs continued to fight through the second. Michael Coldwells scored another purple and white major less than five minutes after play resumed, while Brant's convert added another two points.
 
The only other Mustang points scored in the second half also came courtesy of Brant, with a well placed penalty goal.
 
Guelph, however, was gaining momentum as the half wore on. Second-year wing Andrew Douglas continued to barrel though the Mustangs, reaching the in-goal area with twenty minutes remaining. Cody Weese-Burton's convert tied the game at 15s.
 
Brant's second half penalty goal served as a tie-breaker, giving the Mustangs a three-point advantage. It wasn't until the final play of injury time that the Gryphons were able to push through for a game-winning try from Jeremy Wright. Burton nailed the convert to bring the score to 22-18.
 
The Mustangs are back in action on October 15, when they head to Waterloo to take on the Laurier Golden Hawks.