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The NOLA Gold put the Houston SaberCats to the sword at Constellation Field on Saturday evening, outscoring their hosts seven tries to one with the final score reading 49-11 to the visitors. Unfortunately the match will be remembered equally for an ugly fracas near the end that saw two players red carded as it will Tristan Blewett’s hat trick.
Houston actually started the gave positively, taking a 6-nil lead in the 17th minute after two Sam Windsor penalty goals. The walls would come crashing down soon enough, however, as New Orleans took over immediately after the hydration break, scoring 35 unanswered points on a miserable night for their hosts.
Blewett scored his first in disturbingly easy fashion as he simply split through the Houston midfield on first phase possession. Just a couple minutes later Eric Howard was next on the scoreboard with the hooker on the back of a successful lineout drive.
The third try was a bit unlucky for the SaberCats. With a penalty advantage they moved the ball wide and the referee unexpectedly called advantage over before Conor Mills attempted a looping cut-out pass to Josua Vici. Blewett picked it off with ease and sprinted nearly 60 meters untouched for a seven pointer.
New Orleans would seal the bonus point before they went in for oranges. A multi-phase attack ended with Kyle Baillie hurtling past three defenders to reach the line. JP Eloff obliged with his fourth conversion to make it 28-6 at the break.
It was the pace of Blewett that rocked Houston again early in the second half, and once again on a first phase attack. This time it came from a lineout, with Zack Stryffeler stepping through one tackle and popping a short ball to Blewett for the 40 meter dash under the posts.
A scary moment came at the 53rd minute when Blewett was knocked unconscious as he took a boot to the head when Vici hurtled him in a tackle. Blewett came to and walked off the field aided but there was no penalty issued.
Vici got himself back in the good books with he sliced through for a try on a sneaky inside pass from Conor Murphy at a ruck. Windsor’s extras were off-target and Vici’s status proved only temporary.
It wasn’t long before the next notable event, and this was by far the least pleasant. Vici inexplicably sent Holden Yungert flying with a lead elbow after the whistle. The Gold had seen enough and piled into the winger with players from both sides joining into the fray.
When the dust settled Vici was sent from the field for the elbow, with Osea Kolinisau joining him after being singled out by the assistant referee for a choke hold on a Gold player. Kolinisau’s alleged actions were not clear on the replay but the judiciary is unlikely to offer Vici much sympathy.
The game restarted and soon there was a third man on the sidelines as Kevin Sullivan was shown yellow for repeat scrum collapses. With 14 now playing 13, Joeli Tikoisuva took advantage of the space twice in a couple minutes. The first time ended in a try for himself, the second finished off by Eloff, who wrapped up his day by kicking his seventh successful conversion.
Houston are at Constellation Field once more next week as they play the Utah Warriors in a quick turnaround on Thursday evening. NOLA Maintain their first place position and look forward to their home game against Austin Elite on Saturday.
SCORING
HOUSTON 11
Tries – J. Vici (64’)
Cons – S. Windsor 0/1
Pens – S. Windsor 2/2 (14’, 17’)
Red cards – O. Kolinisau (71’), J. Vici (71’)
NEW ORLEANS 49
Tries – T. Blewett 3 (20’, 37’, 48’), E. Howard (23’), K. Baillie (40’), J. Tikoisuva (77’), J. Eloff (80’)
Cons – J. Eloff 7/7 (21’, 24’, 38’, 40’, 49’, 78’, 80’)
Pens – J. Eloff 0/1
Drop goals – J. Eloff 0/1
Yellow cards – K. Sullivan (74’)
TEAMS
HOUSTON SABERCATS
1 Jamie Dever (18 Matt Almeida 63’), 2 Pat O’Toole (16 Amro Gouda 68’), 3 Charlie Connolly (17 Jake Turnbull 60’), 4 Diego Magno (20 Chris Parker 68’), 5 Matt Trouville (capt.) (19 Robert Meeson 60’), 6 Luke Beauchamp, 7 Cecil Garber (21 Chris Coyle 60’), 8 Alejandro Nieto, 9 Santiago Arata (22 Connor Murphy 51’), 10 Sam Windsor, 11 Kelly Kolberg, 12 Conor Mills (23 Max Tacket 49’), 13 Osea Kolinisau, 14 Josua Vici, 15 Zach Pangelinan
NEW ORLEANS GOLD
1 Hubert Buydens (17 Cam Falcon 55’), 2 Eric Howard (capt.) (16 Matt Harmon 63’-71’), 3 Ben Tarr (18 Kevin Sullivan 60’), 4 Kane Thompson (19 Nikola Bursic 60’), 5 Ignacio Dotti, 6 Kyle Baillie, 7 Zack Stryffeler (21 John Sullivan 66’), 8 Cam Dolan (20 Moni Tonga’uiha 61’), 9 Holden Yungert (23 Joeli Tikoisuva 76’), 10 Scott Gale, 11 Nick Feakes, 12 Con Foley, 13 Tristan Blewett (22 Taylor Howden 53’), 14 Tim Maupin, 15 JP Eloff
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Ben Crouse (SARU)
Assistants: Steve Fenaroli (USAR) & Kat Roche (USAR)
