Dramatic finish sees Denver drop Ohio

Will Magie’s penalty goal two minutes into sudden death overtime earned Denver an historic win over Ohio in the first ever PRO Rugby Match on Sunday. It was an ominous start to the day as a storm piled snow into Infinity Park, but the ground crews managed to clear the field before kickoff and the game went on as scheduled. The brave 2,312 in attendance witnessed a tense battle that culminated in a wild finish as Denver clawed their way back from a 10 point deficit at half.

Roland Suniula’s name will be etched into the trivia books with the first try on day one. The historic first came on 16 minutes after he followed up a line break by beefy winger Spike Davis. Shaun Davies made the conversion to make it a cool seven through the first quarter.

Davies notched a penalty goal after some scrappy play to extend the lead to 10 as Ohio continued to control the action. Niku Kruger finally put Denver on the board just before the break but Davies erased it with his third successful kick on the stroke of halftime.

The visitors continued to get the upper hand in the second half, but somehow failed to finish with multiple attacks foiled by sloppy handling with the line at their mercy. Denver finally got their dander up in the final quarter and after multiple infringements by Ohio, Davies was sent to the bin. The man advantage was made to count as Michael Al-Jiboori crossed for a popular home try, though Kruger’s conversion was no good.

With Denver’s spirits raised, they piled on the pressure and eventually replacement Nick Wallace piled over for the second score. Again Kruger’s conversion was off target, and a wild finish ensued with a drop-goal attempt from Will Magie sailing wide on full time to bring up the sudden death extra period.

Denver took control from the kickoff and moved into Ohio territory, earning a penalty on the sideline just at the 22m line. Magie stepped up to the challenge and as the ball sailed through the uprights the home side erupted.

Ohio will now have a week off before their home opener against San Francisco on Sunday, May 1. Denver will celebrate and prepare for a trip to San Francisco for their second game on Sunday, April 24.

DENVER 16
Tries – M. Al-Jiboori (71), N. Wallace (77)
Pens – N. Kruger (38), W. Magie (82)

OHIO 13
Tries – R. Suniula (16)
Cons – S. Davies (17)
Pens – S. Davies 2 (28, 40)
Yellow cards – S. Davies (70)

DENVER
1 Luke White 2 Zach Fenoglio 3 Ben Tarr 4 Brodie Orth 5 Christian Wiessing 6 Logan Collins 7 Peter Dahl 8 Pedrie Wannenburg (capt.) 9 Niku Kruger 10 Ata Malifa 11 Michael Al-Jiboori 12 Mike Garrity 13 Chad London 14 Martin Knoetze 15 Will Magie

16 Nick Wallace 17 Jake Turnbull 18 Soane Leger 19 Gannon Moore 20 Zac Pauga 21 Bobby Impson 22 Max de Achaval 23 Dustin Croy

OHIO
1 Jamie Mackintosh (capt.) 2 Peter Malcolm 3 Angus MacLellan 4 Pierce Dargan 5 Ryan McTiernan 6 Filippo Ferrarini 7 Matt Hughston 8 Sebastián Kalm 9 Shaun Davies 10 JP Eloff 11 Alex Elkins 12 Taylor Howden 13 Roland Suniula 14 Spike Davis 15 Ahmad Harajly

16 Cameron Falcon 17 Demecus Beach 18 Anthony Parry 19 Dominic Pezzutti 20 Chad Joseph 21 Chris Schade 22 Robbie Shaw 23 Mason Baum

Referee: Derek Summers
Assistants: Leah Berard & Marc Nelson

Attendance: 2,312

WHAT. A. GAME pic.twitter.com/wVILwfAGrX

— PRO Rugby (@ProRugbyUSA) April 17, 2016