Heighton hat trick leads Ironworkers past Old Glory

Three tries from Jack Heighton led the New York Ironworkers to a comprehensive 34-8 win over Old Glory DC in Mount Vernon on Sunday. The flyhalf added two conversions and a penalty goal for a personal haul of 22 points as the defending champions made it two wins in a row.

Fans had barely found their seats when the home side struck first. Old Glory conceded a penalty and Heighton opted for the corner instead of the posts. The driving maul was stopped but Heighton looped around to an unguarded short side to score. His conversion attempted was pulled left of the uprights.

The Ironworkers went straight back at their guests and were soon in for a second try. It came on the end of a lineout drive with Dylan Fawsitt getting the credit. Heighton missed the extras, but made good on a penalty goal to make it 13-0 to the home side at the hydration break.

Old Glory finally got some life but a first attack was held up, and a second chance lost through a knock-on. Teihorangi Walden stopped a third try but his tackle was too early and he was dispatched for a 10-minute break. Joaquín Díaz Bonilla capitalised on the extra space and scored on a wrap-around to get the visitors on the board.

New York’s discipline continued to falter and DC were soon knocking on the door again, but Nate Brakeley won a turnover to relieve the pressure. On the other side of halftime it was the Ironworkers on the attack, only for Danny Tusitala to mirror Brakeley’s effort.

Díaz Bonilla slotted a penalty goal to close the gap to five points, but from there out it was all New York. Heighton stepped his way through for a double, and by the hour mark he had his hat trick after Pago Haini made good ground off the back of a scrum.

Haini then turned to villain by conceding back-to-back penalties, before switching back to hero mode with a turnover in the shadow of his own posts. He was back in the doghouse when another penalty soon after that resulted in a yellow card. Meanwhile Sam Windsor replaced Heighton and grabbed a try of his own, adding the conversion himself to bring a close to the scoring.

It’s a short turnaround for DC who have a road game against the New England Free Jacks on Saturday. New York will get the full week to prepare for their away contest against the NOLA Gold.

 

SCORING

NEW YORK 34
Tries (5) – J. Heighton 3 (3′, 50′, 61′), D. Fawsitt (10′), S. Windsor (79′)
Cons (3) – J. Heighton 2/4 (51′, 62′), S. Windsor 1/1 (80′)
Pens (1) – J. Heighton 1/1 (16′)
YC (1) – T. Walden (29′), P. Haini (73′)

DC 8
Tries (1) – J. Díaz Bonilla (31′)
Cons (0) – J. Díaz Bonilla 0/1
Pens (1) – J. Díaz Bonilla 1/1 (47′)

 

TEAMS

NEW YORK IRONWORKERS
1 Chance Wenglewski (17 Tevita Langi 59′), 2 Dylan Fawsitt (16 Kaleb Geiger 59′), 3 Sam Davies (18 Enrique Quinteros 62′), 4 Nate Brakeley (capt.), 5 Hamish Dalzell (19 Charlie Hewitt 62′), 6 Brad Tucker (20 Pago Haini 59′), 7 Brendon O’Connor, 8 Kara Pryor, 9 Connor Buckley (21 Eamonn Matthews 62′), 10 Jack Heighton (22 Sam Windsor 66′), 11 Ed Fidow, 12 Jason Emery (23 John Powers 62′), 13 Teihorangi Walden, 14 Fa’asiu Fuatai, 15 Andrew Coe

OLD GLORY DC
1 Jack Iscaro (17 Quentin Newcomer 66′), 2 Nic Souchon (16 Facundo Gattas 62′), 3 Ramiro Herrera (18 Cali Martinez 51′), 4 Api Naikatini (19 Collin Grosse 47′), 5 Tevita Naqali, 6 Lautaro Bavaro, 7 Cory Daniel (20 Fintan Coleman 62′), 8 Jamason Fa’anana-Schultz (capt.), 9 Danny Tusitala (21 John LeFevre 62′), 10 Joaquín Díaz Bonilla, 11 Junior Sa’u, 12 Thretton Palamo (23 Gradyn Bowd 66′), 13 Fermín Martínez, 14 Marcos Young (22 Mike Dabulas 47′), 15 Kurt Baker

 

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Scott Green (USA)
Assistants: Lex Weiner (USA) & Marty Steffens (USA)
TMO: Miles McIvor (USA)