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New England will move on to the second round of the playoffs after a nerve-wracking 33-29 victory over Old Glory DC on Saturday afternoon. The Fort Quincy faithful were treated to a full-on contest with both sides giving their best. In the end it was the experience and line speed of the defending champions that saw the Free Jacks through to the Eastern Conference Final.
Paula Balekana sparked the game’s first try when he beat his opposite Perry Humphreys on the outside. The Fijian winger found Reece MacDonald in support on his inside and it was a clean runaway for the finish. Just as quickly, however, DC fired back. Connor Buckley hit Tevita Naqali with a flat ball and when the big man burst through the line he sent the ball back to Buckley to level the scores.
A breakdown penalty gave Jayson Potroz a shot from 40 meters and he made to mistake to nudge New England ahead. DC regained possession at the restart, however, and Jason Robertson needed no second invitation when a handsome gap appeared in the midfield. Lautaro Bavaro was in close support and proved the link to an onrushing Buckley, who dove in under the sticks for a double.
Potroz nearly crossed himself when he spun through traffic only to lose possession as he was reaching out to ground the ball. Instead the Free Jacks settled for three points from their No10, but again DC had an answer. Jamason Fa’anana-Schultz powered forward inside New England’s 5-meter line. He was stopped but got up and from at the next ruck he had the presence to reach over the breakdown for DC’s third try.
As halftime approached the Free Jacks turned up the heat, winning a breakdown turnover that led to Jed Melvin squeezing over from close range. Another penalty turned into three points when Potroz hammered the ball through the posts from 48 meters. Wayne van der Bank then broke free on the left side, angling his way back in to find Oscar Lennon in support to take the offload over for a try. The conversion made it 17 unanswered posts in just over 5 minutes, a spell that would prove decisive.
Another long-range opportunity presented itself to Potroz early in the second half but this time he was off target. After several minutes of stalemate, Robertson curved through a gap under the posts only for Le Roux Malan to knock the ball from his grasp. Old Glory were on advantage, however, and when the Free Jacks left the short side poorly defended Buckley took full advantage to slide in for his hat trick. The conversion attempt from Robertson skewed right and the flags stayed down.
As the hour mark approached Potroz stabbed a grubber through that was regathered by MacDonald, but when the ball was recycled Bavaro broke up the play from an offside position. Potroz took the three points, and after the hydration break it was answered by Robertson. A penalty conceded by DC gave Potroz what looked like a routine shot at three but his strike wasn’t clean and it was pulled right.
With the clock now against DC the Free Jacks only increased the pressure, with every Old Glory attacker hit by two tacklers. After a turnover near midfield Potroz slipped through a gap, freeing van der Bank for what looked a certain try but he went too high and was held up. Old Glory tried desperately to clear their end but couldn’t escape the suffocating defense. Robertson was pushed over the dead ball line and from the subsequent scrum the Free Jacks kicked the ball dead to the delight of their fans.
It’s season done for DC, who now turn their eyes to the 2025 campaign. New England ride on into their third consecutive Eastern Conference Final and with home field advantage await the winner of Sunday’s game between NOLA and Chicago.
| SCORING |
NEW ENGLAND 33
Tries (3) – R. MacDonald (3′), J. Melvin (35′), O. Lennon (40′)
Cons (3) – J. Potroz 3/3 (4′, 36′, 40’+1′)
Pens (4) – J. Potroz 4/6 (10′, 15′, 38′, 59′)
DC 29
Tries (4) – C. Buckley 3 (6′, 11′, 55′), J. Fa’anana-Schultz (21′)
Cons (3) – J. Robertson 2/3 (7′, 21′), No kick (11′)
Pens (1) – J. Robertson 1/1 (66′)
| LINEUPS |
NEW ENGLAND FREE JACKS
1 Malakai Hala-Ngatai (18 Kaleb Geiger 59′), 2 Andrew Quattrin, 3 John-Roy Jenkinson (17 Cole Keith 39′-40′, 56′), 4 Kyle Baillie (19 Josh Larsen 56′), 5 Conor Keys, 6 Piers von Dadelszen (20 Ethan Fryer 59′), 7 Jed Melvin, 8 Seta Baker, 9 Oscar Lennon (21 Holden Yungert 59′), 10 Jayson Potroz (capt.), 11 Paula Balekana, 12 Le Roux Malan (22 Ben LeSage 66′), 13 Wayne van der Bank, 14 Toby Fricker, 15 Reece MacDonald
Not used: 16 Foster DeWitt, 23 Mitch Wilson
OLD GLORY DC
1 Jack Iscaro (17 Cali Martinez 59′), 2 Facundo Gattas (16 KoiKoi Nelligan 59′), 3 Steven Longwell (18 Tyler Rowland HT), 4 Rob Harley (capt.), 5 Tevita Naqali (19 Ignacio Dotti 77′), 6 Jamason Fa’anana-Schultz, 7 Cory Daniel, 8 Lautaro Bavaro, 9 Connor Buckley (21 Ethan McVeigh 68′), 10 Jason Robertson, 11 John Rizzo, 12 Tommaso Boni, 13 John Powers (23 William Talataina 59′), 14 Perry Humphreys, 15 Damien Hoyland
Not used: 20 Brady Daniel, 22 Gradyn Bowd
| MATCH INFO |
Date: Saturday, July 20
Venue: Veterans Memorial Stadium, Quincy
Kickoff: 17:00 local
Weather: partly cloudy, 85°F (29°C), wind SW 9-13mph (14-21km/h)
| OFFICIALS |
Referee: Lex Weiner (USA)
Assistants: Jarrod Ford (USA) & Miles McIvor (USA)
TMO: Cam Russell (Canada)
