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San Diego earned a bonus point 27-11 win over DC at Maryland SoccerPlex on Saturday afternoon. Old Glory led after 40 minutes, but a slew of handling errors and the windy conditions saw them completely shut out in the second half. Instead the legion capitalised and secured the four-try bonus on the last play of the game.
The stiff wind caused problems early as John Rizzo couldn’t corral a high ball from Lincoln McClutchie. From the scrum the Legion went through the phases until McClutchie slipped through a half-gap and offloaded to Tiaan Loots for the opening try. McClutchie converted his own to take the full seven points with five minutes played.
Connor Tupai’s nudge in behind the defense set up another attacking opportunity for the Legion, but this time the DC defense held on until William Talataina won a turnover at the breakdown. The home side worked their way down into San Diego’s territory and a penalty gave Jason Robertson a chance to take three points which he took with ease.
Robertson landed a second penalty after the DC scrum won a penalty. They used the wind to their advantage to move forward, and twice turned down opportunities well within Robertson’s range in favor of tap penalties. The set plays didn’t deliver immediately, but they did enough to suck in the defense and a wide pass from Robertson found Rizzo in space for the finish in the left corner to give the home side an 11-7 halftime lead.
Early in the second half San Diego’s locks made an impact in open play. Charlie Hewitt charged down a Connor Buckley clearance attempt, and Isaac Ross popped off the deck to a charging Marcel Brache. The fullback was hauled down just short a desperation tackle by Martín Vaca, but the ball was recycled and then Tupai took a page from Robertson’s book and fired a huge cutout pass to an unmarked Vili Helu lurking on the wing.
A turning point came just after the second hydration break. Cali Martinez was sent to the bin for cynically playing the ball while off his feet. The Legion took full advantage with a driving lineout try that went to Hugh Roach. McClutchie added three points off a scrum penalty, and then with time up on the clock another penalty handed Finn Kearns a try on the back of a driving maul.
Both teams play on the road next weekend. Old Glory heads to Charlotte to take on Anthem Carolina on Saturday, while the Legion have an extra day to recover for their match against the Miami Sharks on Sunday.
| SCORING |
DC 11
Tries (1) – J. Rizzo (40′)
Cons (0) – J. Robertson 0/1
Pens (2) – J. Robertson 2/2 (18′, 27′)
YC (1) – C. Martinez (63′)
SAN DIEGO 27
Tries (4) – T. Loots (4′), V. Helu (45′), H. Roach (64′), F. Kearns (80’+1′)
Cons (2) – L. McClutchie 2/4 (5′, 80’+2′)
Pens (1) – L. McClutchie 1/1 (73′)
| LINEUPS |
OLD GLORY DC
1 Jack Iscaro (17 Quentin Newcomer 73′), 2 Martín Vaca (16 KoiKoi Nelligan 79′), 3 Tyler Rowland (18 Cali Martinez 46′), 4 Rob Harley (capt.) (19 Bill Whiteside 73′), 5 Ignacio Dotti, 6 Collin Grosse, 7 Cory Daniel (20 Brady Daniel 77′), 8 Lautaro Bavaro, 9 Connor Buckley (21 Danny Tusitala 46′), 10 Jason Robertson (22 Gradyn Bowd 77′), 11 Axel Müller, 12 Tommaso Boni, 13 William Talataina, 14 John Rizzo (17 Quentin Newcomer 71′-73′) (23 John Powers 73′), 15 Damien Hoyland
SAN DIEGO LEGION
1 Nathan Sylvia (17 Faka’osi Pifeleti 53′), 2 Hugh Roach (16 Chris Mickelson 77′), 3 Luke Green (18 Oliver Kane 63′), 4 Charlie Hewitt, 5 Isaac Ross (19 Chris Turori 73′), 6 Vili Helu, 7 Blair Cowan (capt.) (21 Cyrille Cama 73′), 8 Tevita Tameilau (20 Finn Kearns 63′), 9 Connor Tupai (22 Nick Boyer 77′), 10 Lincoln McClutchie, 11 Ryan James, 12 Tiaan Loots, 13 Ethan Grayson (23 Alex Horan 63′), 14 Mikey Te’o, 15 Marcel Brache
| MATCH INFO |
Date: Saturday, March 23
Venue: Maryland SoccerPlex, Germantown
Kickoff: 16:00 local
Weather: cloudy, 52°F (11°C), wind N 15-20mph (24-32km/h)
| OFFICIALS |
Referee: George Myers (Australia)
Assistants: Kahlil Harrison (USA) & Craig Sakowski (USA)
TMO: Amanda Cox (USA)
| HIGHLIGHTS |
