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NOLA recovered from a sluggish start to score 18 unanswered points and take an 18-6 victory over DC on Saturday afternoon. Old Glory looked in control early but the momentum swung towards the Gold just after halftime and they pulled away in the final quarter.
The Gold were on the front foot early and pushed all the way to DC’s line but couldn’t break it, a held-up call allowed the visitors to clear their lines. Penalties then cost NOLA dearly as Jason Robertson opened the scoring with a three-pointer from a tricky angle and followed it up with a second soon after.
Stiff defense continued to frustrate the NOLA attack, and handling errors gave away possession resulting in the Gold being pinned in their end. A long clearance attempt gave Robertson a chance to attempt a drop goal but it dipped just under the posts and the score stood at 6-nil to the visitors at halftime.
Early in the second half Rodney Iona’s inside pass sent Harley Wheeler through a half-gap, but the ball was lost in contact. DC lock Ignacio Ignacio Dotti spoiled two of his former team’s throw-ins, including one on the 5-meter line with the Gold on the attack.
Old Glory couldn’t quite clear and Cory Daniel saw yellow for an infringement at the tackle. Iona took the three points on offer with his day ending soon after, replaced by Rees Botha. He made an immediate impression after the Gold won a scrum against the Head. Botha attacked the short side and found Jordan Jackson-Hope in space with nobody to stop the center from sliding over for a try.
A long-range drop goal attempt from Botha didn’t have the legs, but he would soon slot over three points off the tee to stretch NOLA’s lead to 5 with under 10 minutes to play. The coup de grace came when Botha shrugged off Palema Roberts on a counter-attack and chipped over the cover, with Taniela Filimone winning the race to ground the ball. Botha’s conversion went over for good measure and DC ran out of time to find a bonus point.
It’s another home game for NOLA, who welcome MLR newcomers Anthem Carolina to The Gold Mine next Saturday. Old Glory stay on the road to take on the defending champion New England Free Jacks at Veterans Memorial Stadium that same day.
| SCORING |
NOLA 18
Tries (2) – J. Jackson-Hope (66′), T. Filimone (77′)
Cons (1) – R. Botha 1/2 (78′)
Pens (2) – R. Iona 1/1 (61′), R. Botha 1/1 (73′)
DG (0) – R. Botha 0/1
DC 6
Pens (2) – J. Robertson 2/2 (12′, 16′)
DG (0) – J. Robertson 0/1
YC (1) – C. Daniel (60′)
| LINEUPS |
NOLA GOLD
1 Matt Harmon (17 Bart Vermeulen 55′), 2 Augusto Böhme (16 Pat O’Toole 45′), 3 Sean Paranihi (18 James Irey 64′), 4 Malcolm May, 5 William Waguespack (19 Callum Botchar 55′), 6 Moni Tonga’uiha (capt.) (20 Ale Lopeti 70′), 7 Jonah Mau’u, 8 OJ Noa, 9 Luke Campbell (21 Sebastiano Villani 78′), 10 Rodney Iona (22 Reece Botha 64′), 11 Taniela Filimone, 12 Jordan Jackson-Hope, 13 Ross Depperschmidt, 14 Harley Wheeler (23 Jack Webster 45′), 15 Dougie Fife
OLD GLORY DC
1 Jack Iscaro (17 Quentin Newcomer 79′), 2 Martín Vaca (16 KoiKoi Nelligan 76′), 3 Tyler Rowland (18 Cali Martinez 71′), 4 Rob Harley, 5 Ignacio Dotti (19 Bill Whiteside 69′), 6 Jamason Fa’anana-Schultz (capt.) (20 Collin Grosse 76′), 7 Cory Daniel, 8 Lautaro Bavaro, 9 Connor Buckley (21 Ethan McVeigh 61′), 10 Gradyn Bowd, 11 Perry Humphreys (23 Ishmail Shabazz 79′), 12 Tommaso Boni, 13 John Powers (22 Palema Roberts 76′), 14 John Rizzo, 15 Jason Robertson
| MATCH INFO |
Date: Saturday, March 2
Venue: The Gold Mine, New Orleans
Kickoff: 15:00 local
Weather: overcast, 66°F (19°C), wind E 6mph (10km/h)
| OFFICIALS |
Referee: Luke Rogan (USA)
Assistants: Ian Seaton (USA) & Allen Alongi (USA)
TMO: Derek Summers (USA)
