NOLA back on track with bonus point win over Chicago

The NOLA Gold bounced back from a pair of defeats with a confident 37-24 win over the Chicago Hounds at SeatGeek Stadium on Sunday afternoon. A runaway first half was the difference as the visitors poured on 31 points before coasting through the final quarter, with the home side salvaging a losing bonus point thanks to the positive impact of their replacements.

It was a confident start for the Gold. JP du Plessis broke from his own end to well inside Chicago territory. When he was stopped Jordan Jackson-Hope fended and stepped his way to within a couple meters of the line. Luke Campbell took it the rest of the way himself, stepping and spinning through the post defense to touch down. Rodney Iona chipped over the extras and added a penalty goal soon after to make it a 10-nil game with as many minutes played.

Two tries in rapid succession came next from NOLA. A scrum penalty against the head set up an attacking lineout that would end with Pat O’Toole falling over the line from a driving maul. From the restart Jarred Adams stormed upfield, and the big prop contributed a second powerful burst to put the Hounds on their heels. Iona stepped back inside the defense and found Ross Depperschmidt on his shoulder to dive in with the conversion making it 24-nil to the visitors.

Chicago finally got on the board at the half-hour mark. Cam Dodson charged over the gainline and then Bryce Campbell drove straight up the middle, offloading to Michael Baska in support for the finish. Celebrations were short-lived, however, as a sniping run from Campbell found the post defense wanting and du Plessis was there to swerve around the cover to secure the four-try bonus point before halftime.

Another scrum penalty to NOLA eventually led to a three-pointer from Iona in the second half. The Hounds brought on fresh legs and they made an immediate difference. Luke Carty’s touch-finder set up an attacking lineout and Iona was binned for cynical play at the breakdown. Seconds later Mason Koch powered over on the short side of a maul with the conversion attempt from Mattina just shaving the outside of the upright.

Luke White thundered around the back of a lineout to put Chicago on the front foot again. The forwards took it on until Carty floated a wide pass to Matai Leuta who finished in the corner. Damian Stevens slotted a long-range penalty for NOLA to break things up, but the final say went to the home side. Fred Apulu bashed through the first wave of defense and offloaded to John Cullen, with Charlie Abel driving the rest of the way to grab a bonus point for the Hounds.

It’s a week off for the Hounds, who return to action on Saturday, May 6, with a road game against Rugby ATL. NOLA head home to play the Toronto Arrows next Sunday.

SCORING

CHICAGO 24
Tries (4) – M. Baska (29′), M. Koch (60′), M. Leuta (66′), C. Abel (78′)
Cons (2) – C. Mattina 1/2 (30′), L. Carty 1/2 (79′)

NOLA 37
Tries (4) – L. Campbell (5′), P O’Toole (23′), R. Depperchmidt (26′), J. du Plessis (32′)
Cons (4) – R. Iona 4/4 (6′, 24′, 27′, 33′)
Pens (3) – R. Iona 2/2 (10′, 49′), D. Stevens 1/1 (76′)
YC (1) – R. Iona (60′)

TEAMS

CHICAGO HOUNDS
1 George Thornton (19 LaRome White HT), 2 Mason Koch (18 Fred Apulu 72′), 3 Mika Felix (17 Charlie Abel 38′), 4 Cam Dodson, 5 Mike Matarazzo (16 John Cullen 38′), 6 Dacoda Worth (20 Justice Nkombua 51′), 7 Maclean Jones, 8 Luke White, 9 Michael Baska (21 Sidney Shoop HT), 10 Luke Carty, 11 Julián Domínguez, 12 Billy Meakes, 13 Bryce Campbell (capt.) (23 Matai Leuta 51′), 14 Mark O’Keeffe, 15 Chris Mattina (22 JP Eloff 61′)

NOLA GOLD
1 Jarred Adams (17 Kevin Sullivan 49′), 2 Pat O’Toole (16 Matt Harmon 61′), 3 Sean Paranihi (18 James Irey 61′), 4 Billy Stewart (20 Maciu Koroi 61′), 5 Liam Hallam-Eames, 6 Malcolm May, 7 Moni Tonga’uiha, 8 Cam Dolan (capt.) (19 William Waguespack 73′), 9 Luke Campbell (21 Damian Stevens 70′), 10 Rodney Iona (23 Harley Wheeler 70′), 11 Aaron Matthews (22 Kenneth Jinkins 79′), 12 Jordan Jackson-Hope, 13 JP du Plessis, 14 Ross Depperschmidt, 15 Dougie Fife

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Kat Roche (USA)
Assistants: Shawn Bastic (USA) & Andrew Dunn (USA)
TMO: Greg Gilliam (USA)

Attendance: 3,250