Arrows hold on for narrow win over Old Glory

The Toronto Arrows held on to take a 32-27 result over Old Glory DC at York Lions Stadium on Saturday. While it was a much-needed bonus point win for the home side, it was a nervous final quarter as they saw a 19-point lead diminish rapidly and played the final moments with only 13 men on the pitch.\

Old Glory’s defense was in disarray from the opening kickoff with early line breaks from Mitch Richardson and Ronan Foley setting up a Sam Malcolm penalty goal. Richardson cut through again soon after, connecting with Mitch Voralek whose offload found Conor McCann in support for the first try.

The visitors responded through their forwards. After turning down a shot at goal, DC’s rolling maul was successful with Stan South the man to get the try. A second would come five minutes later in near identical fashion with Dom Bailey this time doing the grounding.

Toronto fired back with two tries before halftime, with their own forwards responding in kind. Another Foley break earned field position and after winning a penalty the drive came on with Jack McRogers on the end for the score. Mike Sheppard burst through from a ruck next, and the pressure stayed on until Cole Keith crashed over from close range.

Just after the intermission Malcolm stabbed a grubber in behind Old Glory’s defense. Voralek was quickest to the ball, swerving past the last man to touch down under the posts and secure the bonus point. The scoreboard now read 29-10 in favor of the Arrows but the visitors were not about to concede.

Thretton Palamo’s power running put DC on the front foot and once in striking position, Rohan Saifoloi’s miss-pass picked out Cory Daniel loitering on the wing. Saifoloi’s conversion attempt was off-target but Old Glory had a spring in their step. A stalemate was broken by a Malcolm penalty at the hour mark.

After the hydration break the visitors turned up the heat. Again they pressed forward and replacement winger Peni Lasaqa stepped through on the end of an attacking sequence to claim their own four-try bonus point. Saifoloi then cut through the line and found Daniel in support for a fifth Old Glory try.

A shoulder charge on the flyhalf in the act of passing landed Johnny Sheridan in the bin. He was joined by Sheppard with just over a minute to play for an offense at the lineout. Daniel nearly crossed for a hat trick with seconds to play but he couldn’t hold on to the ball. One last opportunity was knocked-on and the Arrows would kick the ball dead after winning the scrum.

Both teams play at home next weekend. Old Glory has a short turnaround with the Utah Warriors their guests on Friday night. The Arrows take on Eastern Conference rivals NOLA Gold on Saturday.

 

SCORING

TORONTO 32
Tries – C. McCann (7′), J. McRogers (31′), C. Keith (34′), M. Voralek (43′)
Cons – S. Malcolm 2/3 (8′, 35′), No kick (43′)
Pens – S. Malcolm 2/2 (3′, 60′)
YC – J. Sheridan (73′), M. Sheppard (79′)

DC 27
Tries – S. South (16′), D. Bailey (21′), C. Daniel 2 (46′, 73′), P. Lasaqa (68′)
Cons – M. Dabulas 0/2, R. Saifoloi 1/3 (69′)

 

TORONTO ARROWS
1 Cole Keith (17 Lolani Faleiva 54′), 2 Jack McRogers (16 Andrew Quattrin 54′), 3 Tyler Rowland (18 Isaac Salmon 54′), 4 Mike Sheppard (capt.), 5 Paul Ciulini, 6 Kyle Baillie, 7 James O’Neill (20 Ollie Nott 65′), 8 Ronan Foley (19 Lucas Rumball 54′), 9 Riley DiNardo (21 Gordon McRorie 47′), 10 Sam Malcolm, 11 Mitch Voralek, 12 Guiseppe du Toit (22 Spencer Jones 60′), 13 Mitch Richardson, 14 Johnny Sheridan, 15 Conor McCann (23 Will Kelly HT)

OLD GLORY DC
1 Jack Iscaro (17 Jack Carroll 60′), 2 Rob Irimescu (16 Mo Katz 65′), 3 Kyle Stewart (18 Jake Ilnicki 50′), 4 Tevita Naqali, 5 Stan South, 6 Cory Daniel, 7 Dom Bailey (19 Fintan Coleman HT), 8 Luke Campbell (20 Dacoda Worth 65′), 9 Danny Tusitala (capt.) (21 Danny Thomas 65′), 10 Rohan Saifoloi, 11 Junior Sa’u, 12 Thretton Palamo, 13 William Talataina, 14 Renata Roberts-Te Nana (22 Owen Sheehy 56′-66′), 15 Mike Dabulas (23 Peni Lasaqa 47′)

 

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Cisco Lopez (USA)
Assistants: Peter Pender (Canada) & Chris Micheletti (Canada)
TMO: Andrew Hosie (Canada)