Mieres shines as Arrows sail past Raptors

The Toronto Arrows made up for their earlier loss at Glendale and then some as they sailed past the Raptors by 40-12 at Lamport Stadium on Sunday. Two tries from fullback Gastón Mieres led the way, the Uruguayan export inspiring his team with several scything runs from the back.

It didn’t take long for Toronto’s forwards to exert their dominance. A lineout drive started the momentum and three defenders were shunted aside by Morgan Mitchell as the burly prop broke away from the back to score the first try.

Glendale would respond after their own forward pressure. Carlo de Nysschen was perhaps fortunate that the field lines had confused the referee, taking a quick tap penalty from just a couple meters out to grab five points, with Will Magie’s routine conversion giving the Raptors a temporary lead.

Just a short time later and Mieres would strike for his first. Taking the ball at first receiver from a scrum, he beat Chad London for pace on the outside and sprinted into the corner for a fine individual effort. Sam Malcolm’s sideline attempt sailed through the uprights to add the extra two.

Toronto’s scrum was in complete control throughout. A penalty earned them an attacking lineout, and after the ball was held up in-goal the tight five would get another chance to grind down their opponents. Andrew Ferguson attacked with advantage and Luke Campbell was on the spot to pick and drive for try number three.

It was marvelous Mieres who would bring the crowd to their feet next. After one hit-up in the midfield off a lineout, Ferguson pulled it back to the left to find his fullback screaming onto the ball at pace. Mieres went clean past the first line of defense and weaved through the cover, de Nysschen’s desperate jersey tug not enough to stop him from making the line.

An early second half try looked to be just what the doctor ordered for Glendale. Their own lineout attack didn’t quite come off but the forwards crashed ahead to suck in the defense and a wide pass from Magie found Mika Kruse with just enough space to sneak in for a try.

That would be the final say for the visitors. Ferguson broke through a tackle on the post soon after to sink Glendale’s hopes of a comeback. Fresh legs came on in the Arrows pack and the door was slammed shut as Tom van Horne powered over just to the left of the uprights.

With that the 2018 finalists are officially out of playoff contention. The Raptors will bring their season to a close in a mid-week match at Houston on Wednesday. The Arrows meanwhile have won six in a row and will control their own destiny, with a titanic clash against New York set for Sunday afternoon in Toronto.

 

SCORING

TORONTO 40
Tries – M. Mitchell (5’), G. Mieres 2 (16’, 34’), L. Campbell (27’), A. Ferguson (54’), T. van Horne (66’)
Cons – S. Malcolm 5/6 (17’, 27’, 35’, 55’, 67’)

GLENDALE 12
Tries – C. de Nysschen (12’), M. Kruse (46’)
Cons – W. Magie 1/2 (13’)

 

TEAMS

TORONTO ARROWS
1 Rob Brouwer (17 Pat Lynott HT), 2 Andrew Quattrin (16 Steven Ng 58’), 3 Morgan Mitchell (18 Cole Keith 53’), 4 Mike Sheppard (19 Tom van Horne 61’), 5 Paul Ciulini, 6 John Moonlight, 7 Peter Milazzo, 8 Luke Campbell (20 Marcello Wainwright 61’), 9 Andrew Ferguson (21 Riley DiNardo 67’), 10 Sam Malcolm, 11 Leandro Leivas (23 Kainoa Lloyd 65’), 12 Guiseppe du Toit, 13 Spencer Jones, 14 Dan Moor (capt.), 15 Gastón Mieres (22 Patrick Parfrey 61’)

GLENDALE RAPTORS
1 Noah Barker (18 Max Lum 72’), 2 Zach Fenoglio (16 Chad Gough 61’), 3 Kelepi Fifita (17 Blake Rogers HT), 4 Will Munro (19 Kody O’Neil 56’), 5 Luke White (capt.) (20 Connor Cook 59’), 6 Brendan Daly, 7 Malon Al-Jiboori, 8 Murphy Taramai, 9 Carlo de Nysschen (21 Shaun Davies 56’), 10 Will Magie (22 Ata Malifa 67’), 11 Harley Davidson, 12 Chad London, 13 Mika Kruse (23 Campbell Johnstone 61’), 14 John Ryberg, 15 Dylan Taikato-Simpson

 

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Anthony Woodthorpe (RFU)
Assistants: Moe Chaudhry (RC) & Michael Jones (RC)

 

Attendance: 2,749