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The San Diego Legion came away from Charlotte with a one-sided 52-5 victory over Anthem on Friday night. While the home side showed some endeavor on attack, a disorganized defense allowed the visitors to score almost at will with eight tries conceded against just one scored.
A chip kick in behind the line had alarm bells ringing early for Carolina. The ball was recycled quickly and after Lincoln McClutchie slipped through, Tavite Lopeti finished off the try in the corner. An intercept from Line Latu nearly resulted in points for Anthem, but Karl Keane was held up and a subsequent knock-on allowed the Legion to clear their lines.
The home side again pushed into scoring position and this time Latu attacked the line, offloading to Erich Storti for a five-pointer. San Diego instantly grabbed the momentum back from the restart. A missed touch-finder opened the door and Christian Poidevin went clean through a gap, with Tomas Aoake on hand to take the credit for the score.
Just a few minutes later another huge hole in the defensive line allowed Djustice Sears-Duru to burst through, the big Canadian prop bouncing off a defender on the way to a highlight-reel try. Before halftime Ethan Grayson made a half-break with Lopeti sending Ryan James into the corner to make it 26-5.
Positives were few and far between in the second half for Anthem. A knock-on led to an early score for Vili Helu, and then Shilo Klein burrowed in from close range. Richard Judd took advantage of a completely unguarded ruck to walk in untouched, and then Grayson sliced through two minutes from time to put a bow on San Diego’s performance.
It’s another Friday night home contest for Anthem next week, this time to be played at Mecklenburg County Sportsplex against the Miami Sharks. San Diego stay on the East Coast to play Old Glory DC in the nation’s capital on Saturday.
| SCORING |
CAROLINA 5
Tries (1) – E. Storti (26′)
Cons (1) – M. Wilson 0/1
SAN DIEGO 52
Tries (8) – T. Lopeti (6′), T. Aoake (28′), D. Sears-Duru (32′), R. James (40’+1′), V. Helu (46′), S. Klein (56′), R. Judd (60′), E. Grayson (78′)
Cons (6) – E. Grayson 6/8 (29′, 33′, 40’+2′, 47′, 57′, 61′)
| LINEUPS |
ANTHEM CAROLINA
1 Jake Turnbull (co-capt.) (17 Dan Hanson 51′), 2 Connor Robinson (16 Ethan Howard 51′), 3 Joe Apikotoa (18 Alex Maughan 51′), 4 Puna Vuli (20 Shawn Clark 61′), 5 Mikey Grandy (19 Colin Turner 57′), 6 Sam Golla (capt.), 7 Makeen Alikhan (21 Graeme Pedegana 73′), 8 Dylan Fortune, 9 Karl Keane, 10 Line Latu, 11 Jason Tidwell, 12 Junior Gafa (23 Carlo de Nysschen 67′), 13 Erich Storti, 14 Conner Mooneyham, 15 Mitch Wilson (22 Watson Filikitonga 51′)
SAN DIEGO LEGION
1 Djustice Sears-Duru (17 Nathan Sylvia HT), 2 Shilo Klein (16 Liki Chan-Tung 57′), 3 Darcy Breen (18 Brook To’omalatai 61′), 4 Jed Holloway (19 Charlie Hewitt 61′), 5 Vili Helu, 6 Christian Poidevin (capt.), 7 Paddy Ryan, 8 Tevita Tameilau (20 Brad Wilkin 54′), 9 Richard Judd, 10 Lincoln McClutchie (23 Alesana Pohla HT), 11 Ryan James, 12 Tavite Lopeti (22 Tiaan Loots 7′-18′), 13 Marcel Brache (22 Tiaan Loots 34′ {21 Connor Tupai 61′}), 14 Tomas Aoake, 15 Ethan Grayson
| MATCH INFO |
Date: Friday, February 21
Venue: American Legion Memorial Stadium, Charlotte
Kickoff: 19:30 local
Weather: clear, 36°F (2°C), wind SW 2-4mph (4-6km/h)
| OFFICIALS |
Referee: Kat Roche (USA)
Assistants: Jarrod Ford (USA) & Alex Hedquist (USA)
TMO: Derek Summers (USA)
| HIGHLIGHTS |
