The third time was a charm for the Belleville Bulldogs senior men’s First Team in, appropriately, the third-place game in the 2025 Toronto Rugby Union First Division finals.
After losing close decisions to the Toronto Bay Street Pigs in both of their regular-season meetings, the Bulldogs saved their best for last in the recent third-place match to defeat their rivals 36-5 in the final game of the season at Sunnybrook Park in Toronto.
Bulldogs conceded the opening try to Bay Street, then piled on 36 unanswered points, including two tries apiece from Alex Arsenault and Matt Sweet. Evan Briden and Demetrius Christopher also dotted down in goal for Belleville while Devin McCann was good on three convert kicks.
“The First Team played great,” said Bulldogs coach Warren McCann. “They beat Bay Street decidedly.”
Bulldogs First Team finished the season in impressive fashion with four straight victories, including a lopsided 52-14 drubbing of the Toronto Buccaneers in their semi-final East-West crossover playoff match a week ago. A balanced Bulldogs attack saw tries coming from seven different players in that match, including Devin McCann who also slotted six convert kicks.
Bay Street were equally dominant in their East-West crossover contest, destroying the Toronto Dragons 94-5 to set up the highly anticipated rematch with Belleville.
The Bulldogs First Team outscored the opposition by a whopping 195-41 during their late-season four-game win streak to finish with a 7-5 overall record while producing a total of 468 points and allowing 268. Only the first-place Lindsay Gryphons (11-1) scored more points and allowed fewer than Belleville in the six-team East Division this season. Bulldogs counted an overall total of 76 tries with, again, only Lindsay topping that mark in the East with 98.
Bulldogs continued to show progression in their third season back in the TRU since being unable to field a senior men’s side in 2021-22 after the COVID pandemic. The men returned to the TRU Regional League in 2023, capturing the overall championship to earn promotion back to TRU 1 last year, where they finished the season just below the .500 mark.
Meanwhile, the Bulldogs senior men’s Second Team finished the 2025 campaign with a tough 41-5 loss at Brock in the TRU Div 2 championship match. Isaiah Deryaw counted the lone Belleville try.
“Our Second Team dominated early on but just couldn’t get over the line,” said coach McCann.
A week earlier, the Bulldogs Seconds swamped the Toronto Buccaneers Seconds in their East-West crossover playoff game by a 61-10 margin. Braeden Davis touched down in goal three times for Belleville while tacking on three convert kicks.
The Bulldogs Seconds finish the season with a respectable 5-4 slate.
“Both teams had strong seasons,” said coach McCann, who was assisted by Pieter Kort this year. “We look for further improvement next season.”
BLACK BEAR BACK
See where Belleville’s Black Bear Ridge returns to the SCOREgolf list of top-59 courses in Canada, coming in this year at No. 33. SCOREgolf makes its selections every second year with Black Bear rated No. 24 in the country in 2023.
Here’s what SCOREgolf had to say about Black Bear this year: “Belleville’s Black Bear Ridge shines out of the gate and coming home with the opening holes on both nines particularly memorable and the finishing stretch a top-notch trio.”
Black Bear’s original owner, the late Brian Magee, designed the course.
Meanwhile, Nova Scotia’s Cabot Cliffs and Cabot Links, both located in Inverness, came in at No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, in Canada, the same positions they occupied in the SCOREgolf listing for 2023. Third-place Fairmont Jasper in Alberta also maintained its same spot from two years ago. In fact, the top-six courses were all ranked in the same order from 2023.
Top-rated course in Ontario, coming in at No. 10 overall this year, was Muskoka Bay in Gravenhurst. Rounding out the Ontario top-three were Rocky Crest (MacTier), 12th overall; and TPC Toronto Osprey Valley Hoot (Caledon) at No. 17 overall in Canada.
SCOREgolf picks the brains of 100 expert panelists to make its biennial selections with criterial based on several factors including course aesthetics, layout, strategy, playability and challenge. Black Bear Ridge has appeared in the top-35 of the top-59 since 2017 with a high of 19 in 2021.
