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It was a bittersweet result for the Seawolves as they defeated the SaberCats 43-36 at a packed Starfire Stadium on Friday night. Unfortunately for the home side, a late surge from the visitors gave Houston two bonus points and with it a ticket to the playoffs for the first time in franchise history.
Gerrie Labuschagne was pinged for a deliberate knock-on just a couple minutes into the game. The Seawolves turned down a simple shot at goal in favor of the corner. A skew lineout handed a scrum to Houston, where the front row earned a penalty and the Cats cleared their lines.
The first try came from a set move at a lineout. Ben Landry passed off the top to JP Smith, who sent Samu Manoa crashing over the gainline. Quick ball to AJ Alatimu put the flyhalf on the front foot and through a gap, with Duncan Matthews flying on his outside to take the scoring pass.
A second try emerged just moments later. Alatimu spotted a blade of grass in between three defenders and his cross-kick bounced perfectly for Martin Iosefo to regather. A straight sprint home from halfway did the rest and Alatimu curled his conversion around for the extra two.
The SaberCats got on the board after David Coetzer wriggled his way to within a couple meters of the line. Dillon Smit spotted Matai Leuta unmarked on the right sideline and an arcing cut-out pass found its mark, Leuta jogging around the corner to ease the angle for Coetzer’s conversion.
Alatimu attempted a long-range penalty goal that fell short. Seattle then won another and opted for the corner, but Wynand Grassmann skied to steal the throw-in. When the Seawolves regained possession Alatimu dropped a chip kick in behind the defense and this time Dan Kriel was the benefactor, snatching it out of the air ahead of the cover before running free for the try.
The bonus point was wrapped up before halftime. More Houston penalties conceded field position and Tavite Lopeti looped around to speed through a gap and ground the ball untouched. A drop goal attempt from Alatimu missed but he was on advantage, and he made no mistake off the kicking tee to leave it 29-7 to the home side at the break.
Houston came out fired up in the second half with Labuschagne winning the restart. Two heavy tackles from Samu Manoa slowed them temporarily but Louritz van der Schyff went one better, beating three players on a rampaging run to the line.
The two sides then exchanged tries. A Duncan Matthews offload put Ross Neal in space on his opposite wing, and he fed Iosefo who somehow grounded the ball in the corner despite having Labuschagne wrapped around him like a blanket.
van der Schyff then sparked a Houston response, with two carries from Danny Barrett making good ground up the middle. After several phases Christian Dyer muscled though Alatimu and Iosefo to score the third try for the visitors.
Lopeti got outside the defense to set up another Seawolves try, this time via Mzamo Majola reaching out score with two players on his back. Seattle’s legs were tiring however and their heads dropped when Nick Boyer broke through from a ruck to score the four-try bonus.
Remarkably there was still time for two scores from the visitors. The ball was flung wide left to Zach Pangelinan, who stepped back inside the cover to close the gap. Robbie Povey converted and then with time expired landed a penalty goal that secured a second bonus point and guaranteed Houston a top-three finish in the Western Conference.
Houston head home to contest the Texas Cup against Austin next Friday in a match that will also help determine the final seeding for the playoffs. The Seawolves are out of the running but can still play a role if they can defeat the Giltinis in LA on Sunday in Seattle’s final game of the season.
SCORING
SEATTLE 43
Tries – D. Matthews (9′), M. Iosefo 2 (11′, 48′), D. Kriel (20′), T. Lopeti (30′), M. Majola (70′)
Cons – A. Alatimu 5/6 (12′, 21′, 31′, 49′, 71′)
Pens – A. Alatimu 1/2 (40’+1′)
DG – A. Alatimu 0/1
YC – A. Alatimu (80′)
HOUSTON 36
Tries – M. Leuta (14′), L. van der Schyff (41′), C. Dyer (56′), N. Boyer (75′), Z. Pangelinan (77′)
Cons – D. Coetzer 2/3 (15′, 42′), R. Povey 2/2 (76′, 78′)
Pens – R. Povey 1/1 (80’+1′)
TEAMS
SEATTLE SEAWOLVES
1 Mzamo Majola (17 Kellen Gordon 76′), 2 James Malcolm (16 Sean McNulty 68′), 3 Sam Matenga (18 Tim Metcher 57′), 4 Samu Manoa (20 Travis Larsen 68′), 5 Rhyno Herbst, 6 Ben Landry (19 Brad Tucker HT), 7 Andrew Durutalo, 8 Riekert Hattingh (capt.), 9 JP Smith (21 Reid Watkins 76′), 10 AJ Alatimu, 11 Martin Iosefo (22 Lauina Futi 73′), 12 Tavite Lopeti (23 Lopeti Aisea 71′), 13 Dan Kriel, 14 Ross Neal, 15 Duncan Matthews
HOUSTON SABERCATS
1 Alec McDonnell (17 Frikkie de Beer 60′), 2 Dean Muir (capt.) (16 Axel Zapata 71′), 3 Juan Pablo Zeiss (18 Aaron Mitchell 71′), 4 Marno Redelinghuys, 5 Siaosi Mahoni (20 Emmanuel Albert 60′), 6 Wynand Grassmann, 7 Danny Barrett (23 Keni Nasoqeqe 60′), 8 Malon Al-Jiboori (19 Gideon van Wyk 60′), 9 Dillon Smit (21 Nick Boyer 71′), 10 David Coetzer, 11 Gerrie Labuschagne (22 Zach Pangelinan 64′), 12 Louritz van der Schyff, 13 Christian Dyer, 14 Matai Leuta, 15 Robbie Povey
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Marcus Playle (New Zealand)
Assistants: Kat Roche (USA) & Brad Schwalger (Canada)
TMO: Chris Assmus (Canada)
Attendance: 3,500
