Arrows dominate Gold to jump back into playoff race

The Toronto Arrows scored eight tries en route to a 53-36 win over NOLA Gold at York Lions Stadium on Saturday. A dominant performance from the pack was the difference, with the bonus point victory pushing them even on points with New York for the third playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

NOLA suffered a blow as Robbie Coleman was a late scratch, with Nick Feakes stepping in at flyhalf. It didn’t seem to affect their confidence as the Gold scored first. JP du Plessis slipped through the line at halfway and was stopped just a couple meters short of the line. Cam Dolan was there in support, his long arms reaching out to ground the ball in the tackle. Feakes slotted his first kick from a tricky angle.

The Arrows pack rolled up their sleeves and began to take control in the scrum. After winning a penalty they kicked for the corner, and the lineout drive was too much to stop with a couple backs lending their weight for good measure. Isaac Salmon got the credit and Sam Malcolm tacked on the extras.

Kyle Baillie came off with a lower leg injury before play resumed with Tomas de la Vega coming into the game. The Arrows pushed back into range and Malcolm landed a penalty. It was matched by Feakes several minutes after the hydration break.

That seemed to spark the Arrows and they replied with two tries in rapid succession. Ueta Tufuga brushed off four defenders on a straight run from a scrum to score under the posts. Next it was simple hands to Johnny Sheridan out wide, the right winger slicing back to beat the cover. Malcolm’s conversion made it 24-10 at the half.

Within a minute of the restart the Arrows had their bonus point. Spencer Jones took on two defenders and offload to Mike Sheppard. The captain finished the two-on-one with Mitch Richardson pulling away down the left sideline to score. This time the posts eluded the boot of Malcolm.

The barrage kept coming with another score via the Toronto pack. A set move at a lineout saw Cole Keith taking an off-the-top pass through the middle and there was no stopping the prop from short range. Malcolm’s conversion stretched the gap to 26 points with most of the second half still to play.

A loose pass from the Arrows backline gave seven points back to NOLA. The ball bounced up for Harley Wheeler who took it in stride and sprinted 50 meters to score untouched against the run of play.

It looked as though Wheeler has inspired another try just before the hour mark. After breaking the line, the winger chipped into in-goal and Devereaux Ferris won the race to score. The TMO, however, decided that an earlier pass from Feakes had gone forward and the points came off the board.

Fate was not on the side of NOLA. Malcolm lined up a penalty goal and it bounced off the right upright straight into the hands of Guiseppe du Toit. Next it was a line break from Lolani Faleiva, with Gordon McRorie taking the inside pass in for another seven points.

The Gold replied with a try to Moni Tonga’uiha from a Billy Stewart offload, then the Arrows pushed over the half-century with Jack McRogers on the end of a lineout drive. Late scores from Juan Cappiello and Nick Feakes secured a four-try bonus point for NOLA but the result was already well beyond doubt.

Toronto will spend next week on the road as they play the SaberCats in Houston on Saturday. NOLA are at home on the same day, with the Western Conference-leading Austin Gilgronis their guests.

 

SCORING

TORONTO 53
Tries – I. Salmon (12′), U. Tufuga (35′), J. Sheridan (38′), M. Richardson (41′), C. Keith (45′), G. du Toit (63′), G. McRorie (66′), J. McRogers (75′)
Cons – S. Malcolm 3/5 (13′, 39′, 46′), No kick 2 (35′, 66′), W. Kelly 0/1
Pens – S. Malcolm 1/2 (20′)

NOLA 36
Tries – C. Dolan (6′), H. Wheeler (52′), M. Tonga’uiha (69′), J. Cappiello (77′), N. Feakes (80′)
Cons – N. Feakes 2/3 (7′, 80’+1′), No kick 2 (52′, 69′)
Pens – N. Feakes 1/1 (33′)

 

TEAMS

TORONTO ARROWS
1 Cole Keith (17 Lolani Faleiva 64′), 2 Andrew Quattrin (16 Jack McRogers 60′), 3 Isaac Salmon (18 Tyler Rowland 60′), 4 Mike Sheppard (capt.) (20 Siaki Vikilani 64′), 5 Paul Ciulini, 6 Kyle Baillie (19 Tomás de la Vega 13′), 7 Lucas Rumball, 8 Ronan Foley, 9 Riley DiNardo (21 Gordon McRorie 64′), 10 Sam Malcolm (23 Will Kelly 67′), 11 Mitch Richardson, 12 Ueta Tufuga (22 Guiseppe du Toit 61′), 13 Spencer Jones, 14 Johnny Sheridan, 15 Mitch Voralek

NOLA GOLD
1 Kevin Sullivan (17 James Irey 70′), 2 Eric Howard (16 Alex Lopeti 70′), 3 Dino Waldren (18 Brian Nault 52′), 4 Taylor Krumrei (19 Ignacio Dotti 52′), 5 Billy Stewart, 6 Moni Tonga’uiha, 7 Devin Short (20 Malcolm May 61′), 8 Cam Dolan (capt.), 9 Devereaux Ferris (21 Christian Alvarez 76′), 10 Nick Feakes, 11 Ross Depperschmidt (22 Kenneth Jinkins 61′), 12 JP du Plessis (23 Aaron Matthews 70′), 13 Juan Cappiello, 14 Harley Wheeler, 15 Kyle Rogers

 

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Mike Lash (New Zealand)
Assistants: Peter Pender (Canada) & Chris Micheletti (Canada)
TMO: Andrew Hosie (Canada)