Sharks take spoils in wild battle with Gold

Miami nearly made themselves look foolish once again, but in the end secured a 30-25 win over the visiting Gold on Sunday. NOLA were quickest out of the blocks but the Sharks turned it on in the second half with a starring effort from flanker Manuel Ardao proving the difference.

Fans were still taking their seats when Jonah Mau’u broke clean through the line, but the would-be scoring pass to Luke Campbell was off the mark. Miami couldn’t clear and NOLA attacked again, this time Isaac Te Tamaki’s chip through the line bounced up for Cooper Coats to touch down for the opening try. A 50-22 from Dorian Jones pinned the Sharks back in their end and Te Tamaki this time froze the last defender to send Xavier Mignot free into the corner.

Martin Elías got Miami on the board with a penalty goal, and a Mignot tackle stopped Connor Burns from scoring from a well-placed grubber by Guiseppe du Toit. The pressure stayed on, however, until Alex Tucci bashed over on a hard line to close the gap further. Jones and Elías exchanged three-pointers before Jones attempted a drop goal that was well off target. That left the halftime score 15-13 to the Gold.

Ardao produced a solo effort, ripping the ball from a tackle and spinning his way under the sticks to give the Sharks their first lead of the game. The Uruguayan dynamo then won a clean steal at the breakdown, popping from the deck in the same motion to spark an attack finished off by Ben Bonasso. The score stood 27-15 to the home side at the hydration break.

Mignot popped up in the midfield and offloaded to Coats, who swerved past the cover to grab a double and close the gap to five. Elías stretched it again with a penalty goal, and then his own drop goal attempt rang off the right post. Cynical play off the ball resulted in a yellow card for Bonasso two minutes from time, and Jones quickly snapped over three points.

The last 90 seconds of the match could only be described as chaotic. NOLA conceded a lazy penalty giving Elías a chance to put the game beyond reach, but he inexplicably took too long and the referee waved off the kick. The Gold had one last chance to attack and made it beyond halfway until Ardao again intervened, turning the ball over for du Toit to kick it into touch.

It’s a very short turnaround for the Sharks, who next take on Anthem at Mecklenburg County Sportsplex on Friday night. The Gold will have to lift themselves for another tough road match, this time against the Utah Warriors on Saturday.

 

SCORING

MIAMI 30
Tries (3) – A. Tucci (24′), M. Ardao (52′), B. Bonasso (57′)
Cons (3) – M. Elías 2/2 (25′, 58′), No kick (52′)
Pens (3) – M. Elías 3/3 (18′, 37′, 63′)
DG (0) – M. Elías 0/1
YC (1) – B. Bonasso (78′)

NOLA 25
Tries (3) – C. Coats 2 (3′, 60′), X. Mignot (13′)
Cons (2) – D. Jones 2/3 (4′, 61′)
Pens (2) – D. Jones 2/2 (34′, 78′)
DG (0) – D. Jones 0/1

LINEUPS

MIAMI SHARKS
1 Ma’ake Muti (17 Jonas Petrakopoulos 72′), 2 Kirby Myhill (16 Sean McNulty 47′), 3 Alex Tucci (18 Tau Koloamatangi 44′), 4 Mauro Rebussone  (19 Tomás Casares 44′), 5 Federico Gutiérrez, 6 Manuel Ardao, 7 Benjamín Bonasso, 8 Marques Fuala’au (20 Tomás Bekerman 63′), 9 Tomás Cubelli (capt.) (22 Lautaro Soto Ansay 71′), 10 Martín Elías, 11 Connor Burns (21 Tomás Inciarte 33′), 12 Santiago Videla, 13 Guiseppe du Toit, 14 Marcos Young, 15 Tomás Malanos

Not used: 23 Chase Schor-Haskin

NOLA GOLD
1 Matt Harmon (17 Jarred Adams 61′), 2 Pat O’Toole (16 Ale Lopeti 58′), 3 Paul Mullen (18 Isaac Salmon 58′), 4 Malcolm May (19 William Waguespack 61′), 5 Cam Dolan (20 Aidan King 69′), 6 Moni Tonga’uiha (capt.) (21 Tupou Afungia 58′), 7 Kélian Galletier, 8 Jonah Mau’u (21 Tupou Afungia 51′-58′), 9 Luke Campbell (22 Ruben de Haas 51′), 10 Dorian Jones, 11 Julian Roberts, 12 Nikolai Foliaki (23 Reece Botha 68′), 13 Isaac Te Tamaki, 14 Xavier Mignot, 15 Cooper Coats

MATCH INFO

Date: Sunday, February 23
Venue: Baptist Health Community Field, Fort Lauderdale
Kickoff: 16:00 local
Weather: partly cloudy, 73°F (23°C), wind E 10-15mph (16-24km/h)

OFFICIALS

Referee: Robin Kaluzniak (Canada)
Assistants: Amelia Luciano (USA) & Tom Ciampa (USA)
TMO: Amanda Cox (USA)

HIGHLIGHTS