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NOLA survived a fierce challenge from the Houston SaberCats on Saturday with the final score reading 28-26 to the home side at The Gold Mine. It was a nail-biting final quarter as both teams had opportunities to come away with the win.
The Gold worked their way out of their own end to earn a penalty, and with it an attacking lineout. Kyle Baillie’s acrobatic catch set the maul and Pat O’Toole would get his name on the scoreboard as the drive was successful. Timothée Guillimin converted to capture the full seven.
Some cheeky defensive work at the lineout won Houston a penalty, and a second at the breakdown gave Sam Windsor his first shot at goal from almost straight in front. He made no mistake and the flags went up to give the Cats their first points of the day. A second Windsor kick soon made it a one-point game.
A second O’Toole try came just ahead of the hydration break, and it was a carbon copy of the first. Devin Short was the target this time at the back, and the drive worked a charm with the hooker once again getting the credit. Guillimin’s kick rang true and the two sides took a quick breather.
It was Guillimin’s line break that set up the third try. The flyhalf slipped through and offloaded to Julian Dominguez in support. He was stopped just short but Nikoloz Khatiashvili was ruled to have cynically kicked the ball from an offside position to stop a certain try, and the referee went under the posts to award seven points to NOLA. Khatiashvili would spend the next 10 minutes in the sin bin.
Windsor knocked over his third penalty as Lucas Albornoz left the field with what looked like a rib injury, to be replaced by Jérémy Lenaerts in his Houston debut. The remainder of Khatiashvili’s sin bin time would pass with no further points and no scrums taking place.
When the Georgian prop returned Houston were awarded a put-in at the middle of their own 22-meter line. The ball came to the left and Robbie Povey’s huge cut-out pass put Paula Balekana into space. Joeli Tikoisuva eventually caught up but Nick Boyer was free on the inside to take the pass in for a try. Windsor’s conversion attempt went wide to leave the score 21-14 in favor of the home side at halftime.
Houston suffered a blow just one minute into the second half as Tiaan Erasmus limped off with a knee injury, to be replaced by Patrick Donovan. Erasmus would be followed by Kody O’Neil, who was forced off just before the hour mark with Bronson Teles coming in at lock.
The second-half stalemate ended with a try from Paula Balekana. Adriaan Booysen’s burst from a scrum took the SaberCats to within 5 meters of the line. Povey stepped in at first receiver and again he picked out the Fijian flyer with a huge pass to score in the left corner. Windsor’s sideline conversion was inch-perfect to level the scores.
A bit of Balekana brilliance put Houston in the lead. Joe Thomas put Balekana in space near the SaberCats 22. Balekana chipped over the defense, with Boyer on hand for the regather. The scrumhalf made it to the NOLA 22 before offloading to Balekana for the finish in the corner. This time Windsor’s kick drifted past the uprights but the Gold were now fighting against the clock.
The Gold had no intentions of waiting, and their reply was swift and decisive. Guillimin broke up the middle and Cam Dolan went quick from a resulting penalty. The big No8 was stopped just short and then repelled a second time, but Nikola Bursic was on hand to take it over the line for the bonus point try. The routine conversion from Guillimin nudged the Gold ahead by two.
Another score looked to be coming for NOLA but they conceded possession and a penalty to set up a grandstand finish. Houston went through several phases but ventured too close to the touchline and Booysen’s attempt to keep the ball alive went to Andrew Guerra, the flanker rolling out of bounds to bring on the final whistle.
Both teams are back in action next Saturday. The SaberCats return to AVEVA Stadium to take on the Toronto Arrows, while the Gold play the San Diego Legion at their temporary home in Los Angeles.
SCORING
NOLA 28
Tries – P. O’Toole 2 (6’, 20’), Penalty try (24’), N. Bursic (72’)
Cons – T. Guillimin 3/3 (7’, 21’, 73’), No kick (24’)
HOUSTON 26
Tries – N. Boyer (39’), P. Balekana 2 (61’, 69’)
Cons – S. Windsor 1/3 (62’)
Pens – S. Windsor 3/3 (11’, 17’, 27’)
Yellow cards – N. Khatiashvili (24’)
TEAMS
NOLA GOLD
1 Matt Harmon (17 Kevin Sullivan 62’), 2 Pat O’Toole (16 Eric Howard 46’), 3 Dino Waldren (18 John Sullivan 73’), 4 Kyle Baillie (capt.) (19 Ignacio Dotti 56’), 5 Billy Stewart (20 Nikola Bursic 65’), 6 Devin Short (21 Moni Tonga’uiha HT), 7 Andrew Guerra, 8 Cam Dolan, 9 Holden Yungert (22 Damian Stevens 46’), 10 Timothée Guillimin, 11 Julián Domínguez, 12 Juan Cappiello, 13 Lockie Kratz, 14 Joeli Tikoisuva (23 Kyle Rogers 70’), 15 Hanno Dirksen
HOUSTON SABERCATS
1 Nicolás Solveyra (18 Charlie Connolly 62’), 2 Tiaan Erasmus (17 Patrick Donovan 41’), 3 Nikoloz Khatiashvili, 4 Kody O’Neil (21 Bronson Teles 58’), 5 Lucas Albornoz (19 Jérémy Lenaerts 27’), 6 Apisai Tauyavuca (20 Adriaan Booysen 54’), 7 Cecil Garber, 8 Diego Magno, 9 Nick Boyer, 10 Taylor Howden (23 Max Tacket 70’), 11 Paula Balekana, 12 Sam Windsor (capt.), 13 Joe Thomas, 14 Jake Hidalgo, 15 Robbie Povey
Not used: 16 Nik Hildebrand, 22 Zachary Short
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Moe Chaudhry (Canada)
Assistants: Allen Alongi (USA) & Rob Halcomb (USA)
