Seawolves take down Warriors for first win of the season

Reports of Seattle’s demise may have been premature. The Seawolves earned their first win of the season with a passionate 20-15 road win over the Utah Warriors on Saturday evening. It’s a confidence builder for the former champions who were absent star players Brad Tucker and Ben Cima.

Defense was the winner in the early goings as both teams earned turnovers at the breakdown. At last a breakthrough game when George Barton worked a midfield scissor with Andrew Durutalo, and the rampaging flanker burst clean through to score from nearly halfway. Kieran Joyce landed the conversion to maximise the effort.

The Warriors came roaring back and after a number of team infringements, Djustice Sears-Duru was sent for a 10-minute spell in the bin. Just two minutes later Veremalua Vugakoto burrowed in under the sticks from close range to even the score.

A second Seawolves score came just after the half-hour mark. Breaks from Joyce and Durutalo built momentum, and then a Barton offload found Sitiveni Tamaivena cutting back across the grain. The winger showed remarkable strength to shrug off four defenders and crash over the line. The kick from Joyce hit the upright but Seattle were back in the lead.

Utah were soon down a man as Fraser Hurst was shown yellow for a professional foul that foiled a Seawolves attack. Seattle called for an attacking scrum but the Warriors held on and were able to clear their lines with a free kick.

The game was paused for several minutes just before halftime after a scary collision left JP Smith knocked out cold. A swinging arm in a tackle attempt from Josh Whippy caught the Seattle winger flush in the jaw. There was no call from the officials and the game resumed to complete the final seconds of the half.

Joyce hit the uprights a second time with a penalty kick early in the second half. He would find his target soon after with a three pointer from 40 meters out.

Joseph Mano replaced Whippy on the wing and soon found himself in space down the left side. The ball came back to the right and when Calvin Whiting crashed ahead to tie in the defense, Cliven Loubser was on hand to pick and dummy the last man before diving over the line.

Another attack came close but the Warriors were held up. Instead of opting for the scrum on their advantage, however, they chose the three points on offer and Hagen Schulte duly slotted the kick to level the scores.

A huge miss-out pass from Joyce found Aaron Matthews unmarked to slide over in the right corner for what would prove the winning try. Utah’s last gasp attack ended with an overthrow at the lineout that allowed the Seawolves to grab possession and eventually kick to touch to end the game.

Both teams will be on the road next Saturday. Seattle will head to Atlanta to face the marooned Toronto Arrows. Utah head west to play the Legion in San Diego.

 

SCORING

UTAH 15
Tries – V. Vugakoto (21′), C. Loubser (56′)
Cons – No kick (21′), H. Schulte 0/1
Pens – H. Schulte 1/1 (64′)
Yellow cards – F. Hurst (36′)

SEATTLE 20
Tries – A. Durutalo (14′), S. Tamaivena (31′), A. Matthews (67′)
Cons – K. Joyce 1/3 (15′)
Pens – K. Joyce 1/2 (47′)
Yellow cards – D. Sears-Duru (19′), E. Duechle (79′)

 

TEAMS

UTAH WARRIORS
1 Franco van den Berg (17 Alex Tucci 68′), 2 Veremalua Vugakoto (16 Chad Gough 50′), 3 Angus MacLellan (18 Olive Kilifi 65′), 4 Jurie van Vuuren, 5 Matt Jensen, 6 Thomas Tu’avao (20 Mike Gieselman 70′), 7 Bailey Wilson (capt.), 8 Lance Williams, 9 Fraser Hurst, 10 Hagen Schulte, 11 Josh Whippy (23 Joseph Mano 50′), 12 Calvin Whiting, 13 Mika Kruse, 14 Mike Te’o, 15 Cliven Loubser

Not used: 19 James Mocke, 21 Danny Christensen, 22 Derek Ellingson

SEATTLE SEAWOLVES
1 Djustice Sears-Duru (17 Huluholo Mo’ungaloa 60′), 2 James Malcolm (16 Mike Shepherd 48′ {1 Djustice Sears-Duru 70′-72′}), 3 Tim Metcher (18 Jake Ilnicki 58′), 4 Rhyno Herbst, 5 FP Pelser (19 Eric Duechle 45′), 6 Andrew Durutalo (17 Huluholo Mo’ungaloa 19′-29′) (20 Tommy Clark 60′), 7 Nakai Penny, 8 Riekert Hattingh (capt.), 9 Devereaux Ferris, 10 Kieran Joyce, 11 Sitiveni Tamaivena, 12 George Barton (22 Seta Tuilevuka 60′), 13 Ross Neal, 14 JP Smith (21 Aaron Matthews 39′), 15 Mat Turner

Not used: 23 Juan Pablo Aguirre

 

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Derek Summers (USA)
Assistants: Kage Green (USA) & Niku Kruger (USA)