Seattle come from behind to edge Austin

The Seattle Seawolves came back from an early 13-0 deficit to defeat Austin Elite 20-19 at Round Rock Multipurpose Complex on Friday evening. It’s a result that may come back to haunt the Elite with only one game left in their regular season campaign and three teams who could leapfrog them into a Semi Final.

Austin got off to a strong start with Timothée Guillimin sending over two penalty goals in the opening minutes. Will Holder had a chance to grab points for Seattle but could not connect on his penalty attempt. The Elite charged further ahead when Ross Deacon powered over, Guillimin’s conversion leaving the Seawolves looking in danger of being routed.

In the huddle under the posts Seattle seemed to conjure some energy. They took control from the restart and moments later William Rasileka was over the line to break their funk. Guillimin made good on a third penalty goal but the cracks were starting to show in the Austin line.

Up until that point the scrums had, surprisingly, gone to Austin with Paddy Ryan continuing his return from injury and wreaking havoc on comparatively inexperienced Kellen Gordon. The Elite suffered a hammer blow just short of the half-hour mark, however, with their big tighthead limping off and Chris Schade forced to move to the unfamiliar right side of the scrum, Siaosi Finau coming in at loosehead.

That turned the tide completely at the set piece. Tim Metcher had Finau on skates and Schade couldn’t hold the right side, first against Gordon and then heavyweight John Hayden shortly after the break. Holder had sent over a penalty just before the intermission and Sequoyah Burke-Combs crossed in the left corner for a try as the gaps were now opening with regularity.

Alain Hyardet had seen enough and summoned Robert Drummond to shore up the tighthead side of the scrum. It helped matters but Seattle was still enjoying front foot ball and finding holes almost at will, with Aladdin Schirmer and Eric Duechle each making breaks. Schirmer was clear through but a desperate Zinzan Elan-Puttick tackle knocked the ball loose in-goal.

It would only delay the inevitable. Another break finally yielded points with Taylor Krumrei showing good support for the score. Holder hit his first conversion of the day and the Seawolves had the lead for the first time in the game. Austin went out with barely a whimper as Guillimin landed a penalty but there was no life left, the match coming to a dreary close in an anti-climactic finale.

Both teams end their regular season on the road next weekend. Seattle travel to Glendale with a shot at taking back the overall lead from the Raptors, while Austin face a must-win challenge against the San Diego Legion at Torero Stadium.

 

SCORING

AUSTIN 19
Tries – R. Deacon (18’)
Cons – T. Guillimin 1/1 (19’)
Pens – T. Guillimin 4/4 (5’, 11’, 25’, 69’)

SEATTLE 20
Tries – W. Rasileka (21’), S. Burke-Combs (46’), T. Krumrei (62’)
Cons – W. Holder 1/3 (63’)
Pens – W. Holder 1/2 (36’)

 

TEAMS

AUSTIN ELITE
1 Chris Schade (18 Robert Drummond 48’), 2 Mike Brown, 3 Paddy Ryan (17 Siaosi Finau 29’ {1 Chris Schade 64’}), 4 Ben Mitchell, 5 Victor Comptat (19 Junior Naruma 66’), 6 Kyle Breytenbach, 7 Ross Deacon, 8 Pedrie Wannenburg, 9 Marcus Walsh (21 Michael Reid 61’), 10 Timothée Guillimin, 11 Sani Taylor, 12 Andrew Suniula (capt.), 13 Ned Hodson, 14 Alex Faison-Donahoe (23 Reece Czarnecki 57’), 15 Zinzan Elan-Puttick

Not used: 16 David LeMasters, 20 Knute O’Donnell, 22 Zac Mizell

SEATTLE SEAWOLVES
1 Kellen Gordon (18 John Hayden 43’), 2 Dan Trierweiler (16 Louie Henson 66’), 3 Tim Metcher (17 LaRome White 64’), 4 Taylor Krumrei, 5 Cam Polson (19 Jérémy Lenaerts 55’), 6 Eric Duechle, 7 Nakai Penny (21 Cole van Harn 69’), 8 Aladdin Schirmer, 9 Peter Tiberio, 10 Will Holder (22 Mozac Samson 64’), 11 Sequoyah Burke-Combs, 12 Shalom Suniula (capt.), 13 William Rasileka, 14 Dion Crowder, 15 Mat Turner

Not used: 20 Andre Coquillard, 23 Jeremy Misailegalu

 

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Scott Green (USAR)
Assistants: Josh Houston (USAR) & Butch Neuenschwander (USAR)