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Houston fans were left in disbelief as their home favorite SaberCats tasted defeat at the hands of the Chicago Hounds on Saturday by a final score of 25-22. The visitors earned their victory through toil and effort, and got the better of their hosts in the kicking exchanges in a fierce tactical battle.
Early on it was the home team who had the run of play. Dom Akina sprinted free after snatching up a loose ball and the break yielded a yellow card to Noah Brown for cynically killing the ball at the breakdown. André Warner went over shortly after from a quick tap, with Davy Coetzer adding a conversion and penalty goal to give the SaberCats an 10-point buffer.
The Hounds lost winger Mark O’Keeffe to what looked like a collarbone injury at the 15-minute mark, but their fortunes would turn immediately after. Justin Basson was binned for collapsing a Chicago maul with Dylan Fawsitt scoring seconds later. Successive breaks from Ben Pollack and Charlie Abel led to a James Scott try, with Tim Swiel’s extras giving the visitors their first lead of the game.
Brown drew the referee’s ire once again for failing to release a tackled player on a line break, resulting in a second yellow accompanied by a red card. Chicago were then reduced to just 13 men when Hamish Bain collapsed a maul, with seven points handed to Houston from the penalty try. The halftime score stood 17-12 in favor of the SaberCats.
After failing to further capitalise on their numerical advantage, the home side made wholesale changes to the forward pack early in the second half. It made little difference as instead the Hounds launched an attack from a scrum at midfield, with Maclean Jones bursting on to a short pass from Mason Flesch to restore Chicago’s lead.
Adriaan Carelse took over both playmaking and goal-kicking duties when Swiel was replaced at halftime. He duly landed two of three penalty attempts to put the lead outside of single-score range. A late try for Sam Tuifua from close range salvaged a losing bonus point but a final attacking opportunity for Houston ended when the ball was overthrown at a lineout, allowing Mitch Short to kick the ball dead.
Both teams return to action next Sunday. Chicago celebrates their home opener against the Utah Warriors, while the SaberCats head west to take on RFC Los Angeles.
| SCORING |
HOUSTON 22
Tries (3) – A. Warner (3′), Penalty try (35′), S. Tuifua (78′)
Cons (2) – D. Coetzer 1/2 (4′), No kick (35′)
Pens (1) – D. Coetzer 1/1 (7′)
YC (1) – J. Basson (20′)
CHICAGO 25
Tries (3) – D. Fawsitt (20′), J. Scott (27′), M. Jones (48′)
Cons (2) – T. Swiel 1/2 (28′), A. Carelse 1/1 (49′)
Pens (2) – A. Carelse 2/3 (59′, 73′)
YC (2) – N. Brown (2′), H. Bain (35′)
RC (1) – N. Brown (34′)
| LINEUPS |
HOUSTON SABERCATS
1 Valdemar Lee-Lo (17 LaRome White 46′), 2 Seth Smith (16 Pita Anae-Ah Sue 46′), 3 Pono Davis (18 Michael Scott 46′), 4 Justin Basson (19 Johan Momsen 46′), 5 Nathan Den Hoedt (capt.), 6 Emmanuel Albert (20 Keni Nasoqeqe 46′), 7 Marno Redelinghuys, 8 Ronan Murphy (21 Sam Tuifua 46′), 9 André Warner (22 Jay Renton 60′), 10 Davy Coetzer, 11 Seimou Smith, 12 Sam Hill, 13 Dom Akina, 14 Jeremy Misailegalu, 15 Drew Wild (23 Max Schumacher 51′)
CHICAGO HOUNDS
1 Faka’osi Pifeleti (18 Ignacio Péculo 44′), 2 Dylan Fawsitt (16 Jackson Zabierek 69′), 3 Charlie Abel (17 Liam Fletcher 57′), 4 James Scott, 5 Hamish Bain (19 Jonah Dietenberger 75′), 6 Mason Flesch, 7 Maclean Jones, 8 Lucas Rumball (capt.) (20 Luke White 54′), 9 Mitch Short, 10 Tim Swiel (21 Michael Baska HT), 11 Mark O’Keeffe (22 Adriaan Carelse 15′), 12 Ollie Devoto, 13 Bryce Campbell, 14 Noah Brown (23 Noah Flesch 54′), 15 Ben Pollack
| MATCH INFO |
Date: Saturday, February 15
Venue: SaberCats Stadium, Houston
Kickoff: 19:00 local
Weather: partly cloudy, 70°F (21°C), wind W 16-24mph (26-38km/h)
| OFFICIALS |
Referee: Robin Kaluzniak (Canada)
Assistants: Kat Roche (USA) & Jono Cooper (USA)
TMO: Chris Assmus (Canada)
| HIGHLIGHTS |
