Arrows stretch away from Raptors in Toronto heat

The Ontario Arrows started their fall schedule on a winning note as they defeated the Glendale Raptors 40-18 at York Lions Stadium on Sunday. Sweltering heat in Toronto took its toll and the Raptors were visibly fatigued in the second half, with the Arrows adding 19 unanswered points to their halftime lead.

AJ Quattrin was the first on the scoreboard, the hooker barging through the defensive line to score a seven-pointer in a statement of intent. Glendale responded with a cracking try of their own. The two props – Blake Rogers and Kelepi Fifita – combined to break the line and get well behind the Arrows defense. A cut-out ball from Will Magie found Harley Davidson on the right wing and he offloaded to Nick Johnson, a late change before kickoff, for the score.

With the momentum now firmly in their favor and the wind at their backs, Glendale again found themselves in scoring position thanks to the boot of Magie. A lineout drive went as planned with James Del Bozque falling in-goal for the try. Ontario’s scrum, completely dominant all game, won them field position after the restart and Kolby Francis drove over under the sticks after Quattrin had been narrowly denied a double.

Matt Mullins returned to the field in place of Francis with tape around his head following a blood injury. He showed his sevens footwork, stepping inside one and driving through another while freeing his hands to offload to Lucas Hammond on his shoulder for a try. Magie would slot two penalty goals just before the break to make it a three-point game at the intermission.

The depth of the Arrows was a clear advantage heading in and it showed in the second half. More experienced and match fit, they forced the Raptors to kick into the wind and Andrew Ferguson sparked a classic counter-attack try. The scrumhalf showed right and stepped back to the short side, putting Andrew Coe into space. An offload to Shawn Windsor was followed by a short ball to Marcello Wainwright in support and the flanker sprinted the final 30 meters into the corner.

A late penalty try for a professional foul erased any hope of a comeback. The final score came from the scrum, with a simple hands move to the short side ending with Kainoa Lloyd crashing over the line. Mitch Richardson duly landed the conversion from a tough angle as the whistle sounded.

It’s the statement the Arrows were keen to make. With the confirmation of their inclusion in the 2019 Major League Rugby season seemingly imminent, defeating the finalists – albeit shorthanded – in convincing fashion further underlines their potential moving forward as a professional entity.

 

SCORING

ARROWS 40
Tries – A. Quattrin (10’), K. Francis (26’), L. Hammond (31’), M. Wainwright (53’), Penalty try (77’), K. Lloyd (80’)
Cons – A. Ferguson 3/4 (11’, 27’, 32’), M. Richardson 1/1 (80’)
Pens – A. Ferguson 0/1
Yellow cards – M. Sheppard (58’)

RAPTORS 18
Tries – N. Johnson (18’), J. Del Bozque (21’)
Cons – W. Magie 1/2 (22’)
Pens – W. Magie 2/2 (36’, 40’)

 

TEAMS

ONTARIO ARROWS
1 Rob Brouwer, 2 Andrew Quattrin, 3 Cole Keith, 4 Mike Sheppard (capt.), 5 Paul Ciulini, 6 Marcello Wainwright, 7 Peter Milazzo, 8 Matt Mullins, 9 Andrew Ferguson, 10 Patrick Parfrey, 11 Lucas Hammond, 12 Jamie Leveridge, 13 Andrew Coe, 14 Kainoa Lloyd, 15 Shawn Windsor

Replacements: 16 Steven Ng, 17 Djustice Sears-Duru, 18 Mike Smith, 19 Tom van Horne, 20 Kolby Francis, 21 Johnny Sheridan, 22 Mitch Richardson, 23 Riley DiNardo

GLENDALE RAPTORS
1 Blake Rogers, 2 James Del Bozque, 3 Kelepi Fifita, 4 Luke White, 5 Kody O’Neil, 6 Jonny Layne, 7 Matt Masoe, 8 Connor Cook, 9 Shaun Davies (capt.), 10 Will Magie, 11 Harley Davidson, 12 Ata Malifa, 13 Mika Kruse, 14 Nick Johnson, 15 Colin Gregory

Replacements: 16 Max Lum, 17 Monte Gaddis, 18 Ray Henley, 19 Tom Kacor, 20 Jason Damm, 21 Carlo de Nysschen, 22 Campbell Johnstone, 23 Siale Maka

 

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Moe Chaudhry (RC)
Assistants: Mike Jones (RC) & Dale Hall (RC)

 

Attendance: 1,104