Stingy Seawolves defense stifles Arrows attack

The Seattle Seawolves got their season off to a winning start as they took a 21-8 result over the Toronto Arrows at Starfire Stadium on Sunday night. Both sides produced strong defensive efforts, but it was the home side who were sharpest and largely shut down a misfiring Arrows attack.

An early penalty kick from AJ Alatimu put the home side on the board first. Will Kelly turned down a chance to go for the corner instead, but inaccuracy at the breakdown gave the ball back to Seattle. They worked their way back into the Toronto half and won another penalty which Alatimu duly slotted.

The Arrows fired back and this time Kelly accepted a kick from straight in front. They nearly conjured a try as Ueta Tufuga powered down the left sideline but he was driven into touch with his attempt to keep the ball alive not going to hand.

Another inaccurate clearout saw Toronto give the ball away and the Seawolves made the most of the opportunity. Their forwards muscled their way towards the line and when they were held short, the ball went wide to Duncan Matthews who ran a smart outside angle to ground the ball. Alatimu’s conversion made it a full seven.

A replay came five minutes later from the visitors. After winning a scrum penalty they went on the assault deep in Seattle territory. The ball went wide and this time Tufuga’s pass found its target in Mitch Richardson who had looped around from his opposite wing to score in the left corner. Kelly’s kick from the sideline didn’t quite reach the crossbar.

With the clock ticking down in the half Seattle had another chance to score. A lineout drive looked to be on the way to a try but the Arrows pack stopped them just short, and a TMO review confirmed that no try was scored to leave the halftime score 13-8 to the home side.

Not long into the second half Alatimu landed his third penalty goal to make it a two-score game. Moments later a nasty collision between Matthews and his opposite Conor McCann saw the Toronto fullback leave the pitch and replaced by Mitch Voralek on debut.

Cold, damp conditions made for difficult handling and Toronto’s backline struggled to make use of possession. When they got some momentum in the final quarter, a loose pass from Kelly was plucked out of the air by Ross Neal and the winger sped away for the try from inside his own half to seal the victory.

Seattle now contend with a short turnaround as they host the Utah Warriors on Thursday night. The Arrows stay on the west coast for a first ever home match at Starlight Stadium in Langford, with the defending champion LA Giltinis arriving for a Friday night contest.

SCORING

SEATTLE 21
Tries – D. Matthews (29′), R. Neal (64′)
Cons – A. Alatimu 1/2 (30′)
Pens – A. Alatimu 3/3 (4′, 11′, 48′)

TORONTO 8
Tries – M. Richardson (35′)
Cons – W. Kelly 0/1
Pens – W. Kelly 1/1 (15′)

TEAMS

SEATTLE SEAWOLVES
1 Dewald Donald (17 Kellen Gordon 63′), 2 James Malcolm (16 Mike Brown 79′), 3 Tim Metcher (18 Matt Duncan 79′), 4 Brad Tucker (19 Victor Comptat 23′), 5 Rhyno Herbst, 6 Ben Landry (20 Travis Larsen 65′), 7 Nakai Penny, 8 Riekert Hattingh (capt.), 9 JP Smith (21 Reid Watkins 77′), 10 AJ Alatimu (22 Kieran Joyce 52′-58′), 11 Martin Iosefo, 12 Tavite Lopeti, 13 Dan Kriel (23 Lopeti Aisea 79′), 14 Ross Neal, 15 Duncan Matthews (22 Kieran Joyce 74′)

TORONTO ARROWS
1 Cole Keith (17 Lolani Faleiva 59′), 2 Andrew Quattrin (16 Jack McRogers 72′), 3 Isaac Salmon (18 Tyler Rowland 65′), 4 Kyle Baillie, 5 Mike Sheppard (capt.) (19 Paul Ciulini 61′), 6 Tomás de la Vega (20 Mason Flesch 30′), 7 Lucas Rumball, 8 Ronan Foley (21 James O’Neill 72′), 9 Ross Braude (*22 Andrew Ferguson 72′), 10 Will Kelly, 11 Gastón Mieres, 12 Spencer Jones, 13 Ueta Tufuga, 14 Mitch Richardson, 15 Conor McCann (23 Mitch Voralek 49′)

*22 Andrew Ferguson left the field at 77 minutes and could not be replaced

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Mike Lash (New Zealand)
Assistants: Chris Assmus (Canada) & Brad Schwalger (Canada)
TMO: Shanda Assmus (Canada)