Strong second half leads New York past Boston

It wasn’t anything like their first match at Gaelic Park, but in the end Rugby United New York got the win they wanted over Boston Mystics. The final score at Mignone Field was 42-24 in favor of the visitors. A fourth-quarter surge from New York sealed the result after the first half closed nearly level at 13-10.

Santiago Bertranou ended New York’s perfect 1st-half record thus far with a well-struck drop goal to give the Mystics an early lead. It was short-lived, however, with former Eagles scrumhalf Mike Petri showing his class. The wily veteran sold the post defense on a Brooklyn Bridge-sized dummy and slipped through the gap untouched for the try.

Offsetting yellow cards to Kirk Hamilton and Joe Shurmaitis would come in quick succession. Connor Wallace-Sims landed a penalty goal following the latter and then with Shurmaitis still in the bin David Gannon finished off a sequence of attacks from in close.

Back at full strength Boston fired back. Ian Luciano darted from a ruck and popped back inside to an open Stephen Dazzo. The winger rocketed through the line and seemed to find another gear, swerving around the outside and just holding off Wallace-Sims to score a superb 60 meter solo try. Bertranou’s conversion from a tough angle brought an extra roar from the home crowd just before the break.

Petri was at it again to start the second half. The wily veteran caught the Boston defense napping with a quick tap on a penalty to score his fourth try in two games. After a back-and-forth stretch the scrumhalf made his presence felt again, connecting with fellow World Cup rep Seamus Kelly on a hard line that was too much for the defense to handle.

With replacements entering the game and legs starting to tire the game started to break up and suddenly Boston came to life. A blindside attack that started in their own end went through six pairs of hands, ending where they started with Bertranou on the end of a Shurmaitis offload for a wonderful team try.

In no mood to allow a revival, New York wasted little time in finding the line again. A deep restart put Boston under pressure and they never recovered United regained possession and a few phases later Dylan Fawsitt was open on the right wing and the captain had the pace to run it in from the 22 meter line.

Boston have the fans one last treat before signing off. Vini Daley came looking for work and created the overlap on the right side, making good ground before offloading to Dazzo. The powerful right winger bumped off the defender and sprinted 40 meters under the posts.

New York would have the final say. Paulo Aukuso was dispatched for a professional foul and Michael St. Claire wrapped around the outside moments later. An errant pass bounced up for Alex Schwarz and the flanker did the rest, with James Bird sending over the easy kick to bring an end to proceedings.

It’s a week off for United before they head to Toronto for the last game on their spring schedule against the Ontario Arrows. The Mystics will host the Arrows in Boston one week later on April 21.

 

SCORING

BOSTON 24
Tries – S. Dazzo 2 (38’, 75’), S. Bertranou (66’)
Cons – S. Bertranou 3/3 (39’, 67’, 76′)
Drop goals – S. Bertranou 1/1 (9’)
Yellow cards – J. Shurmaitis (22′), P. Aukuso (78′)

NEW YORK 42
Tries – M. Petri 2 (15’, 46’), D. Gannon (32’), S. Kelly (63’), D. Fawsitt (70’), M. St. Claire (78’), A. Schwarz (80’)
Cons – C. Wallace-Sims 1/4 (64′), J. Bird 1/3 (80′)
Pens – C. Wallace-Sims 1/1 (28’)
Drop goals – J. Bird 0/1
Yellow cards – K. Hamilton (18′)

 

TEAMS

BOSTON MYSTICS
1 Pino Maupese, 2 Jeff Laflamme, 3 Dave McKenna, 4 Andrew Burns, 5 Michael Kaivelata, 6 Devin Ibanez, 7 Joe Shurmaitis, 8 Jon Kokinda (capt.), 9 Ian Luciano, 10 Santiago Bertranou, 11 Vini Daley, 12 Matías de Paolis, 13 Paulo Aukuso, 14 Stephen Dazzo, 15 Jared Collinson

Replacements: 16 Scott Lucas, 17 Dana Corcoran, 18 Cody Davidowicz, 19 Gianni Miceli, 20 Keaton Cashin, 21 Erik Thompson, 22 Sam Sirell, 23 Akinola Raymond, 24 Steve Cappello

RUGBY UNITED NEW YORK
1 Anthony Parry, 2 Dylan Fawsitt (capt.), 3 Kirk Hamilton, 4 David Gannon, 5 Nate Brakeley, 6 Nick Wolley, 7 James Denise, 8 Ross Deacon, 9 Mike Petri, 10 Jack Fitzpatrick, 11 Greg Voigt, 12 Jake Feury, 13 Seamus Kelly, 14 Michael St. Claire, 15 Connor Wallace-Sims

Replacements: 16 Mike Brown, 17 Brian McKellar, 18 Chris Sullivan, 19 Callum Mackintosh, 20 Dave Shotton, 21 Robert McMahon, 22 Alex Schwarz, 23 Gavan D’Amore-Morrison, 24 Marcus Walsh, 25 James Bird, 26 Chris Vakasisikakala, 27 Kyle Granby, 28 Trace Bolstad

 

Attendance: 900