Glendale gets even with Ontario

The tables were turned at Infinity Park on Saturday as Glendale claimed a dominant 41-7 victory over Ontario, in doing so exacting their revenge on the loss in Burlington earlier in the year. Six tries in all to only one for Ontario, a disappointing result in their maiden voyage as the Arrows.

A poor start for Ontario saw Will Magie sucker the defense with a long cut-out pass to Chad London. The midfielder had only the fullback to beat who he fixed with ease to put John Ryberg in for a score just two minutes into the game.

Zach Fenoglio was dispatched for a breather after committing a cynical foul at the breakdown. The visitors had trouble taking advantage of the numerical mismatch until a sneaky bit of business put Andrew Ferguson into the corner. A quick lineout throw went to the scrumhalf tearing away and he ran half the length of the field to touch down. With the conversion from wide out Ontario were back in the game.

It wouldn’t be for long, however. With Fenoglio still off the pitch John Quill popped a short ball to Dustin Croy and took the return pass from his winger. The Eagles flanker then sold a cheeky dummy that suckered two defenders and opened a free lane for a try.

A penalty goal from Magie stretched the gap and then Ryberg made it a double just before the break. Shaun Davies spotted a gap on the short side and his flat ball hit the powerful winger at pace to sneak around the outside and barrel through Ferguson’s cover tackle for a disheartening score.

The second half proved just as challenging with the affects of the high altitude taking their toll on the visitors. Seth Halliman slipped through the line to touch down at the 50-minute mark and then Connor Cook scored a ridiculous individual effort. The flanker casually took off on a counter-attack from 70-odd meters out, stepping inside one defender and then racing past two more to skip over under the sticks.

Peter Milazzo was binned for an indiscretion at a maul and then Zach Fenoglio had the final say. The captain followed up a half-break from Max de Achaval and found the post defense lacking. With replacements streaming into the match there would be no further acts of scoring.

While the result was far from ideal for Ontario, the proof-of-concept must be deemed a success as fans were treated to an entertaining if slightly one-sided spectacle between two high quality sides. More matches of this caliber are set to take place in 2018 as professional domestic rugby is re-introduced to North American shores.

 

SCORING

GLENDALE 41
Tries – J. Ryberg 2 (2′, 37′), J. Quill (27′), S. Halliman (50′), C. Cook (54′), Z. Fenoglio (60′)
Cons – W. Magie 4/6 (3′, 28′, 38′, 55′)
Pens – W. Magie 1/1 (32′)
Yellow cards – Z. Fenoglio (19′)

ONTARIO 7
Tries – A. Ferguson (24′)
Cons – A. Ferguson 1/1 (25′)
Pens – A. Ferguson 0/1
Yellow cards – P. Milazzo (58′)

 

TEAMS

GLENDALE MERLINS
1 Luke White, 2 Zach Fenoglio (capt.), 3 Kelepi Fifita, 4 Ben Landry, 5 Casey Rock, 6 Connor Cook, 7 Peter Dahl, 8 John Quill, 9 Shaun Davies, 10 Will Magie, 11 John Ryberg, 12 Bryce Campbell, 13 Chad London, 14 Dustin Croy, 15 Seth Halliman

Replacements: 16 James Del Bozque, 17 Blake Rogers, 18 Giorgi Tsverava, 19 Devin Vaughter, 20 Grigori Kerdikoshvili, 21 Mose Timoteo, 22 Ata Malifa, 23 Maximo de Achaval

ONTARIO ARROWS
1 Rob Brouwer (capt.), 2 Eric Howard, 3 Alex Forrest, 4 Mike Sheppard, 5 Hank McQueen, 6 Peter Milazzo, 7 Lucas Rumball, 8 Andrew Wilson, 9 Andrew Ferguson, 10 Patrick Parfrey, 11 Jon West, 12 Guiseppe du Toit, 13 Josh Campbell, 14 Kainoa Lloyd, 15 Johnny Sheridan

Replacements: 16 AJ Quattrin, 17 Pat Lynott, 18 Ryan Surgenor, 19 Paul Ciulini, 20 Marcello Wainwright, 21 Mario van der Westhuizen, 22 Mitch Richardson, 23 Kyle Lagasca

 

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Derek Summers (USAR)