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NOLA kept their playoff hopes alive with an 18-12 win over the Toronto Arrows at Lupo Family Field on Saturday. Rainy conditions made handling difficult with both sides resorting to tactical kicking for much of the encounter.
It wasn’t until just before the hydration break when a scoreless tie was finally broken. Julián Domínguez took the ball on halfway and proceeded to blast through three would-be tacklers on a scintillating solo run down the left sideline. Holden Yungert’s conversion attempt rang off the uprights.
On the other side of the hydration break Toronto got a break. Hanno Dirksen took too long to clear and Ben LeSage charged down the kick with nobody at home to prevent him from touching the ball down in-goal. Spencer Jones added the extras to make it 7-5 in favor of the Arrows at the break.
Matt Harmon inspired a scrum penalty with his first action as a replacement and the Gold kicked to the corner. Toronto’s pack did well to slow the maul but when the ball popped loose they suddenly stopped, expecting a knock-on call, only for Cam Dolan to snap up the ball and saunter over for a try.
The Arrows got back in the game after a line break from Andrew Quattrin one territory. The ball was swung back to the left and Will Kelly dropped a beautifully-weighted grubber off his left boot that kicked up perfectly for Gastón Mieres to run onto and score.
It was all bad news for the Arrows in the final minutes. Damian Stevens slotted two penalties as NOLA pulled away with the win. Even worse was an ankle injury suffered by Jones with just a minute to play that looks likely to bring an end to his season and the opportunity to play with Canada on their UK tour.
Both teams are in action next Saturday. The Arrows take on Rugby United New York once again at Lupo Family Field. NOLA travel to Boston where the New England Free Jacks await in another crucial match in the Eastern Conference playoff race.
SCORING
TORONTO 12
Tries – B. LeSage (27’), G. Mieres (63’)
Cons – S. Jones 1/2 (28’)
Drop goals – W. Kelly 0/1
NOLA 18
Tries – J. Domínguez (19’), C. Dolan (52’)
Cons – H. Yungert 1/2 (53’)
Pens – D. Stevens 2/2 (74’, 80’)
TEAMS
TORONTO ARROWS
1 Rob Brouwer (17 Alexandre Janlin 75’), 2 Andrew Quattrin (16 Jack McRogers 65’), 3 Gastón Cortes (18 Marc-Antoine Ouellet 57’), 4 Adrian Wadden, 5 Paul Ciulini (19 Mike Sheppard 60’), 6 Mason Flesch (20 Ronan Foley 70’), 7 Lucas Rumball (co-capt.), 8 Manuel Diana, 9 Ross Braude (21 Andrew Ferguson 65’), 10 Will Kelly, 11 Gastón Mieres, 12 Spencer Jones, 13 Ben LeSage (co-capt.) (23 Mitch Richardson 75’), 14 Johnny Sheridan (22 Leandro Leivas 55′), 15 Joaquín Tuculet
*Spencer Jones left the game injured at the 79 minute mark and could not be replaced.
NOLA GOLD
1 Kevin Sullivan (17 Matt Harmon 49’), 2 Pat O’Toole (16 Eric Howard 55’), 3 Dino Waldren (18 Brian Nault 72’), 4 Ignacio Dotti, 5 Billy Stewart (19 William Waguespack 72’), 6 Moni Tonga’uiha (20 Devin Short 55’), 7 Andrew Guerra, 8 Cam Dolan (capt.), 9 Holden Yungert (21 Damian Stevens 53’), 10 Timothée Guillimin (23 Kyle Rogers 65’), 11 Julián Domínguez, 12 JP du Plessis, 13 Juan Cappiello, 14 Ross Depperschmidt (22 Lockie Kratz 75’), 15 Hanno Dirksen
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: JP Doyle (England)
Assistants: Henrique Platais (Brazil) & Cisco Lopez (USA)
