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Old Glory DC defeated the Houston SaberCats 21-13 on Saturday evening. It was a match heavily affected by the conditions as rain fell throughout, heavily at times. The end result was near identical to their first meeting at AVEVA Stadium during last year’s campaign.
Both teams had chances to score early, and it was Houston who were first on the board. A line break from Nicolás Solveyra resulted in a penalty in front of the posts. Sam Windsor opted for three points instead of pressing for a try.
Windsor got a second opportunity just ahead of the hydration break. It came from an offside penalty, this time just outside DC’s 22-meter line. The fullback’s aim was true and the Cats had a 6-nil lead.
The visitors fired back after the short breather. Mike Sosene-Feagai broke to the short side from the back of a driving maul. The ball was jarred loose in the tackle by Paula Balekana, but it went backwards and Danny Tusitala was there to snatch it up and slide in for the try.
Jason Robertson’s conversion attempt was wide of the posts. He would get a shot at redemption just before halftime. In identical fashion to Windsor earlier, DC opted for the sticks rather than a scrum from right in front and the flyhalf had no trouble taking the three points to give the visitors an 8-6 lead.
Houston came flying out of the gate in the second half. Windsor was just beaten to the grounding by Tusitala on a chip-and-chase, and then Balekana couldn’t handle the final pass from Joe Thomas with the line at his mercy.
The SaberCats would finally get their try via Adriaan Booysen. His opposite number Jamason Fa’anana-Schultz spilled the ball in a tackle and the Namibian eightman needed only a short burst to slide over for an automatic seven points.
An immediate reply came from Old Glory. After working infield from an attacking lineout, Tusitala pulled it back to the blindside and Roberton’s wide pass found Mike Dabulas unmarked to score in the right corner. Robertson expertly curled his kick just inside the upright to restore DC’s two-point lead.
The second Robertson penalty of the day stretched the lead to five, but then Old Glory were hit with some adversity. Fa’anana-Schultz clattered into Balekana as the winger jumped to gather a high ball. After a brief discussion with his assistant, the referee brandished a red card to the Old Glory forward.
Despite the numerical advantage, Houston could not find a way out of their end. Instead it was the boot of Robertson who had the final say. As the clock hit 79 minutes he slotted a drop-goal to seal the win and deny the SaberCats a losing bonus point.
It’s a home game for Old Glory next weekend as they play host to Rugby United New York on Sunday. Houston will head to Chula Vista to play the San Diego Legion on Saturday.
SCORING
HOUSTON 13
Tries – A. Booysen (46’)
Cons – No kick (46’)
Pens – S. Windsor 2/2 (11’, 21’)
DC 21
Tries – D. Tusitala (26’), M. Dabulas (51’)
Cons – J. Robertson 1/2 (52’)
Pens – J. Robertson 2/2 (36’, 64’)
Drop goals – J. Robertson 1/1 (79′)
Red cards – J. Fa’anana-Schultz (70’)
TEAMS
HOUSTON SABERCATS
1 Nicolás Solveyra (16 Liam Murray 62′), 2 Tiaan Erasmus (18 Patrick Donovan 62’), 3 Nikoloz Khatiashvili (17 Nik Hildebrand 70′), 4 Van Stewart (19 Apisai Tauyavuca 47′), 5 Jérémy Lenaerts, 6 Cecil Garber, 7 Diego Magno (22 Bronson Teles 52′), 8 Adriaan Booysen, 9 Nick Boyer, 10 Robbie Povey (20 Taylor Howden 65’), 11 Paula Balekana, 12 Joe Thomas, 13 Veramu Dikidikilati, 14 Jake Hidalgo, 15 Sam Windsor (capt.)
Not used: 21 Zachary Short, 23 Zack Godfrey
OLD GLORY DC
1 Jamie Dever (17 Jack Iscaro 69′), 2 Mike Sosene-Feagai (16 Max Lum 69′-79′), 3 Steven Longwell (18 Dante Lopresti 69′), 4 Api Naikatini (20 Tevita Naqali 62’), 5 Stan South, 6 Callum Gibbins (co-capt.), 7 Cory Daniel (19 Casey Renaud 76’), 8 Jamason Fa’anana-Schultz, 9 Danny Tusitala (21 Danny Thomas 77’), 10 Jason Robertson, 11 Renata Roberts-Te Nana (23 D’Montae Noble 77’), 12 Thretton Palamo (co-capt.), 13 Doug Fraser, 14 Mike Dabulas (22 Ciaran Hearn 62’), 15 Dylan Taikato-Simpson
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Mike Lash (New Zealand)
Assistants: Joey Swatzell (USA) & Jarrod Ford (USA)
