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Old Glory brought a halt to Utah’s four-game winning streak with an impressive 36-22 victory at Segra Field on Saturday. The kickoff was delayed by an hour due to heavy rain but when it finally kicked off it was DC who took it to the Warriors, starting strong and finishing in style.
It didn’t take long for the home side to get on the board. A knock-on gave DC an attacking scrum, and after Junior Sa’u had breached the gainline William Talataina bounced a grubber in behind the defense that popped up perfectly for Peni Lasaqa to score. Gradyn Bowd knocked over the extras to make it a full seven with five minutes played.
An offside penalty gave the Warriors a chance to get points, but they turned it down in favor of a lineout. The game didn’t work as the throw-in was skew, and DC cleared. At the other end the home side were handed their own attacking lineout and executed the drive to perfection with Nic Souchon getting the credit. Another good kick from Bowd and the Warriors were already down 14-0.
Sensing the urgent need for a reply, Utah turned up the tempo. Lance Williams won a clean turnover near halfway and a series of short passes took the Warriors into scoring range. Joel Hodgson sent Olive Kilifi through a gap and when Caleb Makene came just short with a follow-up, Williams was there to scoop the ball up and fall over the line for the try. Hodgson pushed his conversion attempt well wide of the posts but the visitors were on the board.
Just as quickly things went sour for Utah again. Bowd spotted a gap between two forwards and tore upfield, stepping past Connor McLeod to set up a two-on-one. Hodgson stuck out an arm to disrupt the scoring pass to Danny Tusitala, and after a brief discussion with the TMO the referee went under the sticks for seven and handed a yellow card to the Utah No10.
The set piece got Utah back in the game. A scrum penalty set up an attacking lineout, and then after several phases Mika Kruse worked a disjointed wrap-around of Tuvere Vugakoto to score a try. At the same time Kyle Baillie was binned for an off-the-ball hit on Kilifi. With Hodgson still off the pitch Makene took the kicking duties but he was no more accurate than his teammate.
Bowd landed a three-pointer after Vugakoto was pinged for not rolling to restore the 14-point gap. Just two minutes later the Warriors fired back with a try. The two sides scrapped for possession and Utah won it, and then earned a penalty. When the lineout drive broke up Williams crashed over for his double, and this time Hodgson added the extras to make it 24-17 at halftime.
The two sides went back and forth to start the second half, but the Warriors slowly cranked up the pressure. After several counter-attacks were foiled the scrum took control and earned an attacking throw-in. Vugakoto swung around the short side and bundled over for the bonus-point try. The kick from Hodgson curled ever so slightly to the left and the flags stayed down.
A mistake in defense opened the door for DC to land the coup-de-grace. Tusitala sniped on the short side of a maul and when Zion Going pinched it left Lasaqa wide open to sprint inside the 22-meter line. Hit-ups from Alejo Daireaux and Jamason Fa’anana-Schultz set the Warriors on the retreat and Talataina slipped through a gap to grab the fourth try for Old Glory. Bowd nailed the conversion from wide out to make it a two-score game.
There was time for one more Old Glory try. Utah were caught trying to run out of their own end as Marcos Young grabbed a turnover. The winger chipped ahead and regathered himself despite the attention of Going, and Quentin Newcomer was on hand to take a short pass and slam over the line. Bowd’s first miss of the day was academic as the clock ran out on the Warriors.
Both teams have a week off to review and recover before returning on Saturday, May 6. Old Glory will be on the road against the Dallas Jackals, while the Warriors are at home versus the San Diego Legion.
SCORING
DC 36
Tries (5) – P. Lasaqa (4′), N. Souchon (11′), Penalty try (21′), W. Talataina (73′), Q. Newcomer (75′)
Cons (4) – G. Bowd 3/4 (5′, 12′, 74′), No kick (21′)
Pens (1) – G. Bowd 1/1 (33′)
YC (1) – K. Baillie (29′)
UTAH 22
Tries (4) – L. Williams 2 (17′, 35′), M. Kruse (29′), T. Vugakoto (69′)
Cons (1) – J. Hodgson 1/3 (36′), C. Makene 0/1
YC (1) – J. Hodgson (21′)
TEAMS
OLD GLORY DC
1 Jack Iscaro (18 Cali Martinez 77′), 2 Nic Souchon (16 Facundo Gattas 68′), 3 Kyle Stewart (17 Quentin Newcomer 57′), 4 Collin Grosse, 5 Kyle Baillie, 6 Jamason Fa’anana-Schultz (capt.) (19 Fintan Coleman 60′-63′, 74′), 7 Lautaro Bavaro, 8 Langilangi Haupeakui (20 Alejo Daireaux 50′), 9 Danny Tusitala (21 John LeFevre 77′), 10 Gradyn Bowd, 11 Junior Sa’u (23 Marcos Young 60′), 12 Thretton Palamo (22 Joaquín Díaz Bonilla 60′), 13 William Talataina, 14 Peni Lasaqa, 15 Kurt Baker
UTAH WARRIORS
1 Olive Kilifi (17 Franco van den Berg 54′), 2 Tuvere Vugakoto (16 Joey Backe 74′), 3 Paul Mullen (18 Angus MacLellan 52′), 4 Jurie van Vuuren, 5 Jamie Lane (19 Jonah Dietenberger 77′), 6 Bailey Wilson (capt.) (20 Jeremiah Noaese 66′), 7 Lance Williams, 8 Thomas Tu’avao, 9 Connor McLeod (21 Zion Going 70′), 10 Joel Hodgson, 11 Joe Mano (23 Logan Tago 77′), 12 Tyler Fisher (22 Calvin Whiting 66′), 13 Mika Kruse, 14 Caleb Makene, 15 Cliven Loubser
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Cam Stone (New Zealand)
Assistants: Ian Seaton (USA) & Aaron Davis (USA)
TMO: Chris Assmus (Canada)
