Free Jacks recover from bad start to beat NOLA

The Free Jacks overcame an early two-try deficit to defeat the Gold 27-21 in front of a sellout crowd at Fort Quincy on Saturday afternoon. NOLA had the run of the play for much of the first half but New England rebounded with 27 unanswered points to secure the victory.

Isaac Salmon found himself in trouble on the opening kickoff when the NOLA prop crashed into New England skipper Josh Larsen with a shoulder charge. A yellow card was brandished but the Free Jacks couldn’t capitalise, fumbling two lineouts and instead it was Rodney Iona who had a shot at three points off the tee. While the kick was astray, it ran down the remainder of Salmon’s sin-bin.

A high ball from Iona created something out of nothing soon after. As Jayson Potroz took to the air, so did Taniela Filimone and it was the Tongan winger who came down with possession. Filimone sped free into the corner for the opening try and Iona found his range from the sideline to make it a full seven.

The Gold waves kept coming and Iona had another shot at goal. Again though, the flags stayed down. New England couldn’t clear and from an ensuing lineout Jordan Jackson-Hope slipped out of two tackles on the gainline and stepped the last man to score NOLA’s second try.

At the half-hour mark a tactical kick from Potroz bounced off Dougie Fife’s hands through touch-in-goal, handing the Free Jacks a five-meter attacking scrum. Wayne van der Bank’s inside line on first phase caught the defense wrong-footed and the try was on, with Potroz converting from wide out.

Fife was the victim of another awkward bounce off the turf in the second half when a kick from John Poland found space. This time the ball eluded Fife completely, and Reece MacDonald snared it from the air to score an opportunistic try with the extras from Potroz drawing the scores level.

Potroz put his team ahead with two penalty goals on either side of the hydration break. A try from Ben LeSage put the result beyond doubt, the Canadian center spring onto an offload from Mason Koch. Another conversion from Potroz made it a 13-point game but there was still time on the clock for both teams to claim a bonus point.

The Gold threw caution to the wind and MacDonald stepped through as a would-be spoiler with an interception, but what looked a runaway was stopped dead by a try-saving tackle from William Waguespack. A couple frantic moments of action ended with Julian Roberts slipping free on the left side for NOLA, passing back inside to Jackson-Hope who raced free to score. Reece Botha’s conversion from the touchline ensured the visitors didn’t leave empty-handed.

It’s another road game for NOLA next Saturday when they square off against the Dallas Jackals in Arlington. New England are also away but have an extra day to prepare for their match against the Chicago Hounds.

NEW ENGLAND 27
Tries (3) – W. van der Bank (32′), R. MacDonald (51′), B. LeSage (77′)
Cons (3) – J. Potroz 3/3 (33′, 52′, 78′)
Pens (2) – J. Potroz 2/2 (56′, 65′)

NOLA 21
Tries (3) – T. Filimone (13′), J. Jackson-Hope 2 (22′, 80’+2′)
Cons (2) – R. Iona 2/2 (14′, 23′), R. Botha 1/1 (80’+3′)
Pens (0) – R. Iona 0/2
YC (1) – I. Salmon (1′)

NEW ENGLAND FREE JACKS
1 Kyle Ciquera (17 Foster DeWitt 56′), 2 Andrew Quattrin (16 Mason Koch 55′), 3 John-Roy Jenkinson (18 Kaleb Geiger 56′), 4 Josh Larsen (capt.), 5 Kyle Baillie (19 Conor Keys 58′), 6 Martín Sigren (23 Piers von Dadelszen 73′), 7 Seta Baker (20 Cam Davidowicz 61′), 8 Wian Conradie, 9 John Poland (21 Cam Nordli-Kelemeti 52′), 10 Jayson Potroz, 11 Paula Balekana (22 Isaac Olson 79′), 12 Wayne van der Bank, 13 Ben LeSage, 14 Mitch Wilson, 15 Reece MacDonald

NOLA GOLD
1 Jarred Adams (17 Matt Harmon 48′), 2 Augusto Böhme (16 Ale Lopeti 65′), 3 Isaac Salmon (18 Sam Klimkowski 72′), 4 Callum Botchar (19 Fintan Coleman 56′), 5 William Waguespack, 6 Malcolm May (18 Sam Klimkowski 7′-11′) (19 Fintan Coleman 25′-37′) (20 Maciu Koroi 56′), 7 Moni Tonga’uiha (capt.) (21 Osaiasi Tonga’uiha 73′), 8 Jonah Mau’u (20 Maciu Koroi 21′-31′), 9 Luke Campbell, 10 Rodney Iona (22 Reece Botha 56′), 11 Taniela Filimone, 12 Jordan Jackson-Hope, 13 JP du Plessis, 14 Harley Wheeler (23 Julian Roberts 65′), 15 Dougie Fife

Date: Saturday, March 16
Venue: Veterans Memorial Stadium, Quincy
Kickoff: 14:00 local (11:00 Pacific, 13:00 Central)
Weather: sun and cloud, 46°F (8°C), wind E 16-24mph (26-39km/h)
Attendance: 4,051

Referee: Cisco Lopez (USA)
Assistants: Miles McIvor (USA) & Jarrod Ford (USA)
TMO: Chris Assmus (Canada)