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Houston emerged as the winner over Seattle in a fiery contest between two unbeaten sides on Friday night. When the whistle blew for full time the score read 42-40 in favor of the SaberCats, the first time they have bested the Seawolves on their home turf. In doing so the visitors have extended their lead at the top of the Western Conference table.
An early penalty in favor of Houston was reversed when Justin Basson was caught attempting to kick Pago Haini from the side of a maul. Only the failure to connect saved Basson from the bin, but the penalty was reversed and Seattle were now in SaberCats territory. Rob Cobb’s inexperience at tighthead prop was exposed at the first scrum, and Mack Mason took three points from the tee.
The SaberCats then turned down a shot at goal in favor of the corner. When the maul slowed the forwards rolled up their sleeves and battered away until Johan Momsen had the strength to reach through a tackle and ground the ball. Alatimu’s conversion was on song and the visitors were ahead by four.
Alatimu added three more from a penalty goal, and then it was Seattle’s turn to eschew the posts in favor of an attacking lineout. The throw-in didn’t go to plan but Houston didn’t get much purchase on their attempt to clear. JP Smith broke to the short side from another dominant scrum and fired a grubber in behind the defense, with Jade Stighling showing his pace and sliding onto the ball for the try.
From the restart Lauina Futi earned himself a ticket to the sin bin when he collared an upright Ronan Murphy. Alatimu accepted the three-point gift and the lead was stretched to five. Ezekiel Lindenmuth then saw yellow for a dangerous clearout on Seawolves captain Charles Elton.
With 14 men on each side of the pitch, a turnover on Houston’s side of halfway sparked a try for the visitors. Marno Redelinghuys snatched the ball from a breakdown and freed Murphy, who dummied before passing to Andre Warner. Basson was next to carry, the big lock galloping down the sideline until he was hauled down by the cover defense. Murphy was there in quick support to pick and drive over the line. Alatimu converted from wide out and the Cats were 12 points to the good.
Off-the-ball scuffles were taking place at almost every whistle, which drew the ire of the referee. Futi went off for running repairs on a cut to his eyebrow as he emerged from a pile-up. After cautioning players from both sides a penalty gave Alatimu another chance at the sticks. He duly obliged and the score stood an ominous 23-8 to the SaberCats at halftime.
Early in the second half the Seawolves came out firing. The SaberCats survived the first assault, holding up Dan Kriel over the line. They couldn’t escape entirely, however, and after several phases Mason slipped between two defenders to score the try himself.
A swift response came from the visitors. Pita Anae-Ah Sue won a turnover at the breakdown on his side of halfway. Alatimu then delivered a stunning touch-finder that put the Cats on Seattle’s doorstep. The maul was broken up but the post defense was too slow to react,. Anae-Ah Sue spotted the half-gap, picked and crashed over for the score.
Both sides were guilty of ill-discipline and Houston were pinged for backchat, despite captain Momsen’s protests that it was not directed at the referee. Mason picked the corner and Joe Tauefete’e broke from the ensuing maul and powered over the line. Just a couple minutes later it was déjà vu, another penalty conceding a lineout and Big Joe again busting through to score.
On the other side of the hydration break the Seawolves were put under pressure by a 50-22 off the boot of Christian Dyer. The lineout drive built momentum and Mason somehow found himself in the middle. Two offenses were identified by the officials but the No10 was deemed to have collapsed the maul and issued a yellow card, with the referee awarding a penalty try.
Seattle sent on Sam Windsor to take up the flyhalf role and he made an immediate impact with a 50-meter penalty goal, but his effort was washed out when a stray pass was picked off by Tautalatasi Tasi for an easy run-in from halfway. The conversion made it 42-30 with just even minutes to play.
That was time enough for the Seawolves to mount a comeback. Futi went into the corner on the end of a miss-out pass from Kriel, and then Keni Nasoqeqe was binned for a dangerous clearout on Futi. Andrew Durutalo came off the back of the scrum and popped to Divan Rossouw, who held the defense before sending Stighling over for a double. Windsor’s attempt to tie the score on full-time drifted wide and Houston celebrated a famous win.
It’s another Friday night road game for the SaberCats next week, this time back in Texas against the Dallas Jackals. Seattle have an extra day to prepare for their trip east for a Saturday showdown against the Chicago Hounds.
| SCORING |
SEATTLE 40
Tries (6) – J. Stightling 2 (23′, 79′), M. Mason (43′), J. Taufete’e 2 (56′, 59′), L. Futi (74′)
Cons (2) – M. Mason 2/4 (57′, 60′), S. Windsor 0/2
Pens (2) – M. Mason 1/1 (8′), S. Windsor 1/1 (67′)
YC (2) – L. Futi (25′), M. Mason (64′)
HOUSTON 42
Tries (5) – J. Momsen (16′), R. Murphy (34′), P. Anae-Ah Sue (47′), Penalty try (64′), T. Tasi (72′)
Cons (4) – A. Alatimu 3/4 (17′, 35′, 73′), No kick (64′)
Pens (3) – A. Alatimu 3/3 (20′, 26′, 40′)
YC (2) – E. Lindenmuth (33′), K. Nasoqeqe (77′)
| LINEUPS |
SEATTLE SEAWOLVES
1 Cameron Orr, 2 Joe Taufete’e, 3 Sam Matenga (18 Olive Kilifi 57′), 4 Rhyno Herbst, 5 Jean Droste, 6 Reid Davis (20 Andrew Durutalo 57′), 7 Charles Elton (capt.), 8 Pago Haini (19 Taylor Krumrei 68′), 9 JP Smith, 10 Mack Mason, 11 Jade Stighling, 12 Dan Kriel, 13 Divan Rossouw, 14 Lauina Futi (22 Sam Windsor 38′-HT), 15 Duncan Matthews (22 Sam Windsor 65′)
Not used: 16 DaQuan Perry, 17 Chance Wenglewski, 21 Ryan Rees, 23 Jeremiah Sio
HOUSTON SABERCATS
1 Ezekiel Lindenmuth (17 LaRome White 75′), 2 Pita Anae-Ah Sue, 3 Rob Cobb (18 Pono Davis 58′), 4 Justin Basson, 5 Johan Momsen (capt.), 6 Marno Redelinghuys, 7 Emmanuel Albert (19 Keni Nasoqeqe 58′), 8 Ronan Murphy (20 Asa Carter 75′), 9 Andre Warner (21 Carlo de Nysschen 76′), 10 AJ Alatimu, 11 Jeremy Misailegalu, 12 Dom Akina, 13 Tautalatasi Tasi, 14 Christian Dyer, 15 Davy Coetzer (22 Max Schumacher 58′)
Not used: 16 Tiaan Erasmus, 23 Line Latu
| MATCH INFO |
Date: Friday, March 22
Venue: Starfire Stadium, Tukwila
Kickoff: 19:30 local
Weather: rain, 51°F (11°C), wind NW 6-9mph (10-15km/h)
| OFFICIALS |
Referee: Moe Chaudhry (Canada)
Assistants: Austin Reed (USA) & Brian Dusablon (USA)
TMO: Scott Green (USA)
| HIGHLIGHTS |
