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It took more than seven years, but Utah finally got their first ever victory over NOLA at Salt Lake on Saturday. The Warriors did so in emphatic fashion, scoring 8 tries in all to record a 55-21 result against a frustrated Gold side who were second-best at the set piece and inaccurate in scoring position.
Luke Carty’s penalty goal in the 3rd minute put NOLA on the board first, but the Gold quickly found themselves in trouble at the scrum deep in their end and the referee decided a penalty try was in order. Seven points went to Utah and Paul Mullen went to the bin.
The two teams were evened with Jordan Trainor saw yellow for a dangerous tackle. Utah won a scrum penalty against the head and D’Angelo Leuila picked out a wide-open Joe Mano with a cross-kick for a second Warriors score. Once back at full strength Carty’s flat pass put Ed Fidow in space, and the winger outstripped two defenders to touch down from 40 meters out.
Carty’s conversion attempt rang off the left upright but he made good on a penalty goal to close the gap to three points. The Warriors had a chance to kick for points but opted for the corner, and Liam Coltman broke from a maul to power over. A high shot from Mano earned him a 10-minute rest and NOLA nearly took advantage but Nikolai Foliaki lost possession in the tackle as he was attempting to ground the ball. With that the score stood 21-11 to the home side at halftime.
A line break from Cooper Coats led to three points from Carty, but then the Warriors exploded with 17 unanswered points in five minutes. Trainor countered a missed touch-finder from Carty and shrugged off two tacklers en route to a superb solo effort. Joel Hodgson, now on for Leuila, landed a penalty goal, and then tacked on his third successful kick after Mano picked off a loose pass from JP du Plessis to grab a runaway brace.
Malcolm May squeezed in under the defense after Coats and Fidow combined on another line break, but would be it for NOLA’s scoring on the day. Tuvere Vugakoto scored from a maul and just after Fidow was binned for unceremoniously slamming a Utah player to the turf, Mano streaked into the corner for his hat trick. The frustration got to Carty and he was sent from the field for backchat, and Hodgson added the icing to Utah’s cake with a picture-perfect cross kick to Nic Benn for the finish.
The Gold have a timely week off before hitting the road to play the New England Free Jacks on March 15. It’s another home game for the Warriors, who carry their momentum into next Saturday’s match against the Houston SaberCats.
| SCORING |
UTAH 55
Tries (8) – Penalty try (9′), J. Mano 3 (17′, 56′, 71′), L. Coltman (29′), J. Trainor (51′), T. Vugakoto (64′), N. Benn (78′)
Cons (6) – No kick (9′), D. Leuila 2/2 (18′, 30′), J. Hodgson 3/5 (52′, 57′, 72′)
Pens (1) – J. Hodgson 1/1 (55′)
YC (2) – J. Trainor (12′), J. Mano (40’+1′)
NOLA 21
Tries (2) – E. Fidow (20′), M. May (58′)
Cons (1) – L. Carty 1/2 (59′)
Pens (3) – L. Carty 3/3 (3′, 27′, 50′)
YC (3) – P. Mullen (9′), E. Fidow (70′), L. Carty (78′)
| LINEUPS |
UTAH WARRIORS
1 Aki Seiuli (17 Emerson Prior 57′), 2 Liam Coltman (16 Tuvere Vugakoto 57′), 3 Tonga Kofe (18 Angus MacLellan 50′), 4 Matt Jensen (19 Bailey Wilson 57′), 5 Gavin Thornbury (capt.), 6 Frank Lochore, 7 Kalisi Moli (20 Tyler Wong 65′), 8 Dylan Nel, 9 Logan Crowley (21 Zion Going 57′), 10 D’Angelo Leuila (23 Joel Hodgson 50′), 11 Joe Mano, 12 Spencer Jones (22 Paul Lasike 50′), 13 Kyle Brown, 14 Nic Benn, 15 Jordan Trainor
NOLA GOLD
1 Matt Harmon (18 Bart Vermeulen 62′), 2 Ale Lopeti (16 Abe Turpen 68′), 3 Paul Mullen (17 Isaac Salmon 50′), 4 Chase Jones (20 Malcolm May 55′), 5 William Waguespack, 6 Kélian Galletier (22 Moni Tonga’uiha 44′-52′, 55′), 7 Jonah Mau’u (capt.), 8 Tupou Afungia (17 Isaac Salmon 15′-19′) (19 Callum Botchar 65′), 9 Ruben de Haas (21 Damian Stevens 57′), 10 Luke Carty, 11 Ed Fidow, 12 JP du Plessis (23 Reece Botha 62′), 13 Isaac Te Tamaki, 14 Nikolai Foliaki, 15 Cooper Coats
| MATCH INFO |
Date: Saturday, March 1
Venue: Zions Bank Stadium, Herriman
Kickoff: 14:00 local
Weather: sunny, 55°F (13°C), wind NE 4-6mph (6-10km/h)
| OFFICIALS |
Referee: Ben Connor (Wales)
Assistants: Marquise Goodwin (USA) & Kahlil Harrison (USA)
TMO: Mike Kelly (USA)
| HIGHLIGHTS |
