Houston wins again as Glendale’s season ends

photo credit: Jeremy Fletcher / Bigshots Snapshots / Houston SaberCats

Recap

Make it three wins in a row for Houston. The SaberCats showed they had more left in the tank than the Raptors as they came away 32-17 winners at AVEVA Stadium in their rescheduled fixture on Wednesday night. With that Glendale’s season comes to a close on three straight defeats, a disappointing end for the 2018 Finalists.

An early penalty from Sam Windsor sailed over for the home side but it was the visitors who notched the first try. As we have seen on several occasions this season, a back-handed pass from Dylan Taikato-Simpson bamboozled the defense and left Harley Davidson wide open on the right side for an easy finish.

The SaberCats wasted to time in offering a reply. A loopy lineout throw was gathered by Jamason Fa’anana-Schultz and Jamie Dever took the line straight on. Despite attracting four defenders, the prop kept driving ahead with a little help from two teammates with the end result a try.

Houston were reduced by a man when Victor Comptat cynically kicked the ball out of a ruck, but it was SaberCats who scored next rather than Glendale. Despite missing their biggest second row and calling in a winger to the flank, the Houston scrum smashed their opponents backwards and Windsor attacked, regathering his own chip ahead. Josua Vici was on his shoulder to take the pass and the electric Fijian did the rest, shaking off one and fending two more on a 40-meter run under the sticks.

It was Windsor himself who got the touchdown just before halftime. Connor Murphy spotted space in behind the Raptors defensive line and his chip over the top was gathered in-goal by his flyhalf. The routine conversion made it 24-5 to the SaberCats at the break.

A second Windsor penalty extended the lead before Glendale were offered some hope. Will Magie’s cross kick bounced awkwardly and Taikato-Simpson just managed to ground the ball before it crossed the dead ball line. Davidson scorched around the outside next, weaving back inside to beat the cover to reduce the gap to 10 points.

All momentum was lost in the blink of an eye. Zach Pangelinan’s no-look pass found Vici in space. After beating three players himself he returned the favor to Windsor with the flyhalf diving over for the killer blow. That would bring a close to the scoring as the two exhausted sides scraped to the final whistle.

 

SCORING

HOUSTON 32
Tries – J. Dever (15’), J. Vici (22’), S. Windsor 2 (36’, 65’)
Cons – S. Windsor 3/4 (16’, 23’, 37’)
Pens – S. Windsor 2/3 (3’, 46’)
Yellow cards – V. Comptat (20’)

GLENDALE 17
Tries – H. Davidson 2 (11’, 63’), D. Taikato-Simpson (56’)
Cons – R. Petzer 0/1, W. Magie 1/2 (64’)

 

TEAMS

HOUSTON SABERCATS
1 Jamie Dever (18 Jake Turnbull 57’), 2 Pat O’Toole (16 Amro Gouda 57’), 3 Charlie Connolly (17 Paul Mullen 50’-73’, 75’), 4 Diego Magno (19 Robert Meeson 58’), 5 Victor Comptat (20 Luke Beauchamp 50’), 6 Jamason Fa’anana-Schultz, 7 Cecil Garber, 8 Alejandro Nieto, 9 Connor Murphy (23 Kelly Kolberg 73’), 10 Sam Windsor, 11 Deion Mikesell, 12 Thretton Palamo (capt.) (21 Zach Pangelinan HT), 13 Josua Vici, 14 Malacchi Esdale, 15 Osea Kolinisau

Not used: 22 Chris Coyle

GLENDALE RAPTORS
1 Blake Rogers (17 Max Lum 61’), 2 Zach Fenoglio (16 Chad Gough 61’), 3 Noah Barker, 4 Brendan Daly (19 Will Munro 61’), 5 Luke White (18 Kody O’Neil 61’), 6 Jason Damm (20 Connor Cook 50’), 7 Malon Al-Jiboori, 8 Murphy Taramai, 9 Shaun Davies (capt.) (21 Carlo de Nysschen 61’), 10 Ata Malifa (22 Will Magie 47’), 11 Harley Davidson, 12 Robbie Petzer (23 Campbell Johnstone 47’), 13 Chad London, 14 Mika Kruse, 15 Dylan Taikato-Simpson

 

Result

TeamTCPDBPPoints
Houston SaberCats4320132
Glendale Raptors310017

Houston SaberCats

1Jamie Dever 18 Loosehead Prop
2Pat O’Toole 16 Hooker
3Charlie Connolly 17 Tighthead Prop
4Diego Magno 19 Left Lock
5Victor Comptat 20 Right Lock
6Jamason Fa’anana-Schultz Blindside Flanker
7Cecil Garber Openside Flanker
8Alejandro Nieto Number Eight
9Connor Murphy 23 Scrumhalf
10Sam Windsor Flyhalf
11Deion Mikesell Right Wing
12Thretton Palamo 21 Inside Center
13Josua Vici Outside Center
14Malacchi Esdale Left Wing
15Osea Kolinisau Fullback
16Amro Gouda 2 Hooker
17Paul Mullen 3 Tighthead Prop
18Jake Turnbull 1 Loosehead Prop
19Robert Meeson 4 Left Lock
20Luke Beauchamp 5 Right Lock
21Zach Pangelinan 12 Flyhalf
22Chris Coyle Flanker
23Kelly Kolberg 9 Left Wing

Glendale Raptors

1Blake Rogers 17 Loosehead Prop
2Zach Fenoglio 16 Hooker
3Noah Barker Tighthead Prop
4Brendan Daly 19 Left Lock
5Luke White 18 Right Lock
6Jason Damm 20 Blindside Flanker
7Malon Al-Jiboori Openside Flanker
8Murphy Taramai Number Eight
9Shaun Davies 21 Scrumhalf
10Ata Malifa 22 Flyhalf
11Harley Davidson Right Wing
12Robbie Petzer 23 Inside Center
13Chad London Outside Center
14Mika Kruse Left Wing
15Dylan Taikato-Simpson Fullback
16Chad Gough 2 Hooker
17Max Lum 1 Loosehead Prop
18Kody O’Neil 5 Right Lock
19Will Munro 4 Left Lock
20Connor Cook 6 Openside Flanker
21Carlo de Nysschen 9 Scrumhalf
22Will Magie 10 Flyhalf
23Campbell Johnstone 12 Inside Center

Officials

Referee
Derek Summers (USA)
Assistant Referee 1
Scott Green (USA)
Assistant Referee 2
Jake Still (USA)

Details

Date Time League Season Attendance
May 29, 2019 8:30 pm Major League Rugby 2019 1811

Venue

AVEVA Stadium
12131 Kirby Dr, Houston, TX 77045, USA

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