Arrows end losing streak with draw against ATL

Toronto’s seven-game losing streak is at an end, though celebrations would be muted after a 34-34 draw against Rugby ATL at York Lions Stadium on Friday night. The Arrows recovered from a 17-nil first half deficit to salvage the tie, leaving the visitors frustrated to leave behind two vital competitions points in their hunt for a playoff spot.

It was a poor start for the home side. Offloads from Austin White and Te Rangatira Waitokia put Will Leonard in space. He in turn fed Niall Saunders who made it to the 5-meter line. One recycle and a cutout pass from Martini Talapusi to Matt Heaton saw the captain scoring in the corner. Duncan van Schalkwyk landed the conversion as Noel Reid was help off with a head knock.

Immediately following the restart a quick tap from Saunders put the Arrows on the retreat. The scramble defense caught up but eventually a penalty led to three points from the boot of van Schalkwyk. ATL continued to dominate possession and then Alex Maughan spun over the line off the back of a driving maul, with van Schalkwyk’s kicking making it 17-0 to the visitors.

Both sides had opportunities that went begging. A lineout drive for the Arrows as stopped just a couple inches short and ATL cleared their lines. Talapusi then came close in response, and Saunders knocked on reaching out to ground the ball on the line. Shane O’Leary sparked an attack out wide for Toronto, feeding back inside to Will Grant. The final pass hit D’Shawn Bowen in the hands but the winger dropped it could with daylight in front of him.

A creative torpedo up-and-under from O’Leary set up the first Arrows try. The ball bounced off van Schalkwyk’s shoulder and Avery Oitomen was there to snatch it away from White, strolling in for the finish. O’Leary landed the conversion from out wide and then tacked on a penalty goal to make it a one-score game at halftime.

Mitch Richarson would draw the scores level not long into the second half. Lolani Faleiva picked off a loose pass from Maughan and barreled out to halfway. One phase later and Richardson scythed through a gap in the midfield, feinting to the outside before pulling clear to touch the ball down under the posts.

Restarts were proving problematic for the Arrows and it was ATL who won the ball back. After several phases Justin Basson offloaded to Jack Shaw to retake the lead. Moments later White latched on to a scripted pass from Peter Nelson and Leonard set Waitokia into space. The winger popped off the deck to Rewita Biddle in support for a diving finish into the corner. Talapusi was now playing flyhalf and added both conversions, the second from the right touchline.

ATL were now 14 points ahead but it was the Arrows who struck next. Quick hands from Richardson and Tautalatasi Tasi set Kobe Faust free, with the winger firing it back inside to a trailing Ross Braude for the run-in. O’Leary smashed the ball through the posts into a stiff breeze to reduce the gap to seven points.

Bad news came for the Arrows when Isaac Salmon was binned for a shoulder charge on Jonas Petrakopoulos. Talapusi calmly took the three points and it was now a two-score game with under 15 minutes to play.

Instead of closing out the game, however, ATL spilled the ball at a breakdown and in an instant Bowen was tearing upfield, stepping past Waitokia to redeem his earlier mistake. A kick from Talapusi then went too long and handed the Arrows possession in scoring position. O’Leary took the three just as Salmon returned to the pitch and the clock would run out before either team could create another score.

Next up for the Arrows is a rare Thursday night game at home against Old Glory DC. ATL will have an extra day’s recover to plan for their noon-time kickoff against the Dallas Jackals at Silverbacks Park on Saturday.

 

SCORING

TORONTO 34
Tries (4) – A. Oitomen (33′), M. Richardson (48′), R. Braude (62′), D. Bowen (68′)
Cons (4) – S. O’Leary 2/2 (34′, 63′), No kick 2 (48′, 69′)
Pens (2) – S. O’Leary 2/2 (38′, 77′)
YC (1) – I. Salmon (66′)

ATL 34
Tries (4) – M. Heaton (3′), A. Maughan (15′), J. Shaw (51′), R. Biddle (54′)
Cons (4) – D. van Schalkwyk 2/2 (4′, 16′), M. Talapusi 2/2 (52′, 55′)
Pens (2) – D. van Schalkwyk 1/1 (7′), M. Talapusi 1/1 (66′)

 

TEAMS

TORONTO ARROWS
1 Lolani Faleiva (17 Connor Grindal 76′), 2 Tyler Wong (16 Ramón Ayarza 60′), 3 Tyler Rowland (18 Isaac Salmon 52′), 4 Mason Flesch, 5 Adrian Wadden (19 Mike Sheppard 52′), 6 Lucas Rumball (capt.), 7 James O’Neill (20 Owain Ruttan HT {3 Tyler Rowland 70′-76′}), 8 Travis Larsen, 9 Will Grant (21 Ross Braude 52′), 10 Peter Nelson, 11 Avery Oitomen (23 Kobe Faust 60′), 12 Noel Reid (22 Tautalatasi Tasi 4′), 13 Mitch Richardson, 14 D’Shawn Bowen, 15 Shane O’Leary

RUGBY ATL
1 Lincoln Si’i (17 Jonas Petrakopoulos 46′), 2 Alex Maughan (16 Phil Thiel 70′), 3 John-Roy Jenkinson (18 Will Burke 65′), 4 Justin Basson, 5 Johan Momsen (19 Jordan Brown HT), 6 Vili Helu (20 Frederick Henry-Ajudua 52′), 7 Matt Heaton (capt.), 8 Ross Deacon, 9 Niall Saunders (21 Ryan Rees 73′), 10 Duncan van Schalkwyk (23 Rewita Biddle 49′), 11 Jack Shaw, 12 Martini Talapusi, 13 Will Leonard (22 Seth Purdey 65′), 14 Te Rangatira Waitokia, 15 Austin White

 

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Joe James (England)
Assistants: Peter Pender (Canada) & Clint Lemkus (Canada)
TMO: Andrew Hosie (Canada)