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The New England Free Jacks bounced back from their tough loss to the Warriors with a 31-19 bonus-point victory over the Chicago Hounds at Veterans Memorial Stadium on Saturday. After a poor start for the visitors they made a game of it and took a lead early in the second half before the home side’s replacements secured the result.
Bad news hit Chicago early as vice-captain Luke Beauchamp was forced off holding his shoulder, replaced by Mike Matarazzo. New England then added insult to injury as they won a scrum against the head, with John Poland breaking away and spinning out of the tackle of Julián Domínguez to score in the corner. Domínguez jarred his head in the attempt and went off for an HIA, from which he would not return.
What looked like a cracking long-range score from Ben LeSage after a Taniela Filimone break down the sideline was scrubbed off for a knock-on spotted earlier in the move. The Free Jacks would get their score moments later, however, as Andrew Quattrin stormed up the middle and offloaded to Mitch Jacobson for an easy grounding under the posts.
Some poorly-considered words saw both teams penalised for backchat. Things calmed down after the referee laid down the law to the two captains. Chicago would get a score before halftime as they finally got some attacking field position. A wide ball found JP Eloff in space to score in the corner, with Chris Mattina bisecting the uprights with the conversion.
Discipline hurt the Free Jacks early in the second half and the Hounds went on the offensive. They won a 5-meter throw-in but the drive was stopped. Billy Meakes then crashed ahead, again halted short, before John Cullen powered over the line but the big lock was held up and New England cleared their lines.
A handling miscue from Wayne van der Bank gave Bryce Campbell a free run at the line, the center hauled down by Spencer Jones just a meter short. Chicago won a penalty on the play and kicked for the corner. The drive came on and this time the try was good with Luke White getting the credit. Mattina was again on target with the conversion to give the visitors a two-point lead.
The home side wasted no time getting back into scoring position. Sam Fischli ripped the ball clean from Luke Carty’s hands and soon a penalty yielded an attacking lineout. Once the maul was slowed Kyle Ciquera peeled off the back and crossed the line, but Billy Meakes was there waiting and got under the ball to prevent was looked a certain try.
Fresh legs entered for the Free Jacks at the hydration break. They made an immediate impact, with Paula Balekana making ground as they pushed towards the Chicago 22-meter line. The ball came back to the right side where Le Roux Malan was waiting. With his first touch of the season the midfielder sliced through a gap to score, with Reece MacDonald tacking on the extra two.
From the restart New England poured on more pressure. LeSage broke to the outside and attempted to find Filimone, now prowling on the right wing, but the pass was knocked down by Mattina. A yellow card ensued for the Chicago flyhalf. MacDonald slipped out of a tackle and then popped off the deck to Joel Hintz, who bumped off one to put the Hounds on the back foot. The entire front row got into the act as Mills Sanerivi crashed ahead and offloaded to Foster DeWitt, who stepped past the last defender to secure the bonus point try.
Mattina returned and the Hounds turned up the heat. Dacoda Worth came close on the left side, and though he was stopped short a penalty went Chicago’s way. They opted for the lineout and again the drive was successful, this time Hugh Roach the man to come up with the ball. The kick from Mattina was pushed just right of the posts but it was now a one-score game.
That would as close as they would get. Within an instant Malan spotted wide open space in the corner. He deftly dropped the ball onto his left foot and the bounce was perfect for Balekana, who calmly regathered and placed the ball for the finish. The Hounds would come within inches of a fourth try but a knock-on with time expired snuffed out the opportunity.
Both teams are on the road next weekend. The Free Jacks travel north of the border to square off against the Toronto Arrows. For the Hounds it’s off to the west coast for a date with the San Diego Legion.
SCORING
NEW ENGLAND 31
Tries (5) – J. Poland (10′), M. Jacobson (22′), L. Malan (58′), F. DeWitt (67′), P. Balekana (75′)
Cons (3) – R. MacDonald 2/4 (59′, 68′), No kick (22′)
CHICAGO 19
Tries (3) – J. Eloff (35′), Lu. White (49′), H. Roach (73′)
Cons (2) – C. Mattina 2/3 (36′, 50′)
YC (1) – C. Mattina (60′)
TEAMS
NEW ENGLAND FREE JACKS
1 Kyle Ciquera (17 Foster DeWitt 55′), 2 Andrew Quattrin (16 Mills Sanerivi 55′), 3 Joel Hintz (18 Conor Young 72′), 4 Semisi Paea, 5 Jesse Parete, 6 Sam Fischli (20 Ethan Fryer 72′), 7 Mitch Jacobson (capt.), 8 Joe Johnston (19 Cam Davidowicz 61′), 9 John Poland (21 Holden Yungert 76′), 10 Reece MacDonald, 11 Taniela Filimone, 12 Wayne van der Bank (22 Le Roux Malan 55′), 13 Ben LeSage, 14 Zach Bastres (23 Paula Balekana 55′), 15 Spencer Jones
CHICAGO HOUNDS
1 George Thornton (17 Timmy Ohlwein 55′), 2 Hugh Roach (16 Mason Koch 79′), 3 Charlie Abel (18 Mika Felix 72′), 4 John Cullen (21 Dacoda Worth 70′), 5 Luke White (19 Sam Peri 76′), 6 Luke Beauchamp (20 Mike Matarazzo 7′), 7 Maclean Jones, 8 Michael de Waal, 9 Sean Yacoubian (22 Michael Baska 61′), 10 Chris Mattina, 11 Julián Domínguez (23 Luke Carty 11′), 12 Billy Meakes, 13 Bryce Campbell (capt.), 14 Mark O’Keeffe, 15 JP Eloff
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Damián Schneider (Argentina)
Assistants: Amelia Luciano (USA) & Mike Rudzinsky (USA)
TMO: Derek Summers (USA)
