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Two late tries spared the Seattle Seawolves from an upset loss on their home turn as they stopped the Houston SaberCats 27-14 at Starfire Stadium on Sunday. The SaberCats gave the defending champions more than they bargained for and were leading heading into the 70th minute of the match.
It was a good start for the home side as Brock Staller sent over a routine penalty goal in the opening minutes, but things went bad quickly for the Seawolves. Josua Vici entered the line just short of halfway and shook off Shalom Suniula. With only one man to beat it was an easy pass to Osea Kolinisau who sprinted in untouched from the 22 for the first try of the match.
Eric Duechle nearly replied for the Seawolves with a huge line break but Vici’s last-gasp tackle knocked the ball free before it could be grounded. The rest of the first half was largely a stalemate with Sam Windsor’s penalty goal the only other points scored by either side. Seattle couldn’t capitalise on their dominant scrum and the teams jogged into the changing rooms with the score 8-3 in favor of Houston.
Seattle brought on fresh legs at the intermission in the form of John Hayden and Jérémy Lenaerts. They made an immediate impact, and it was the latter who would get the touchdown from a driving maul to bring the Seawolves back in to the game. Staller’s conversion nudged his team ahead but only just.
Windsor and Staller exchanged kicks as the game hit another standstill. Houston would take the lead in the 69th minute when Windsor knocked over the easiest of penalties.
Suddenly staring at defeat, the Seawolves seemed to find another gear. Lenaerts blasted through the line and then Olive Kilifi barreled ahead, the Eagles prop held up in-goal. JP Smith opted for the quick tap and after it was recycled, quick hands put Sequoyah Burke-Combs into the corner. Staller nailed the sideline conversion as the stands erupted.
From the restart the ball took a wild bounce off Matt Trouville’s shoulder, landing square in the hands of Duechle running at full tilt. The flanker never looked back, racing in under the posts from halfway to put the game to bed. A last-minute attack saw Smith break through but he couldn’t get the offload away that would have secured an unlikely bonus point.
The Seawolves will now head to Texas in second place for their match against Austin Elite on Saturday. Houston will be in dire straits if they can’t find a win at home, but they’ll have to do so against the league-leading NOLA Gold.
SCORING
SEATTLE 27
Tries – J. Lenaerts (46’), S. Burke-Combs (72’), E. Duechle (75’)
Cons – B. Staller 3/3 (47’, 73’, 76’)
Pens – B. Staller 2/4 (3’, 55’)
HOUSTON 14
Tries – O. Kolinisau (9’)
Cons – S. Windsor 0/1
Pens – S. Windsor 3/4 (24’, 50’, 69’)
TEAMS
SEATTLE SEAWOLVES
1 Kellen Gordon (17 Olive Kilifi 52’), 2 Dan Trierweiler (16 Stephan Coetzee 59’), 3 Tim Metcher (18 John Hayden HT), 4 Api Naikatini (19 Jérémy Lenaerts HT), 5 Brad Tucker, 6 Cam Polson (20 Aladdin Schirmer 52’), 7 Eric Duechle, 8 Riekert Hattingh (capt.), 9 JP Smith, 10 Ben Cima, 11 Sequoyah Burke-Combs (22 Dion Crowder 74’), 12 Shalom Suniula, 13 William Rasileka (21 George Barton 59’), 14 Brock Staller, 15 Peter Tiberio (23 Scott Dean 78’)
HOUSTON SABERCATS
1 Jamie Dever, 2 Pat O’Toole, 3 Charlie Connolly (17 Jake Turnbull 55’), 4 Robert Meeson (20 Diego Magno 55’), 5 Matt Trouville (capt.), 6 Luke Beauchamp (22 Ayron Schramm 64’), 7 Cecil Garber, 8 Alejandro Nieto, 9 Connor Murphy (21 Chris Saint 78’), 10 Sam Windsor, 11 Malacchi Esdale, 12 Conor Mills, 13 Osea Kolinisau, 14 Josua Vici, 15 Zach Pangelinan
Not used: 16 Amro Gouda, 18 Matt Almeida, 19 Chris Parker, 23 Max Tacket
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Paul-Henri Courbier (USAR)
Assistants: Luke Rogan (USAR) & Denny Russell (USAR)
