New York overwhelms Dallas to all but secure playoff spot

The New York Ironworkers have all but secured their spot in the playoffs as they defeated the Dallas Jackals in emphatic fashion on Sunday afternoon. When the final whistle sounded the scoreboard read 43-14 in favor of the home side, with formal elimination of ATL now just a single point away.

It was the Jackals who struck first. Penalties conceded by New York gave away field position, and when the forwards formed the maul Adriaan Booysen broke away immediately, with Lui Sitama taking the switch pass to break clean through and touch down under the posts for an automatic seven.

After several minutes playing defense, the home side finally enjoyed a period of possession. The forwards went through phases and Pago Haini came bursting through a gap, but the No8 dropped the ball cold with nobody in front to stop him. Haini redeemed himself by squeezing in on a short pick-and-go not long after, with Jason Emery’s conversion leveling the scores.

New York took the lead on a counter-attack sparked by Andrew Coe. The fullback slipped past two defenders, and when the ball was recycled smooth hands from four players sending Connor Buckley racing away into the corner. Emery couldn’t quite land the kick that just shaved the left upright.

An obstruction call against Dallas turned over possession. Lucas Bur shut down the maul, but Buckley managed to dig the ball out and Teofilo Fidow made something out of nothing. The powerful winger fended and weaved past three would-be tacklers to score a superb individual effort and stretch the gap to 10 points in favor of the home side.

Dallas were struggling for accuracy at the lineout and an overthrow handed another try to New York. Dylan Fawsitt was the unintended recipient and the hooker put boot to ball, with Buckley winning the race to grab a double. Emery’s kick pushed across the face of the posts and the flags stayed down.

A breakdown penalty 10 minutes into the second half gave New York another scoring opportunity, and they would take pull advantage. After kicking to the corner, the forwards pounded ahead until Tevita Langi crossed having only just come onto the field as a replacement a couple minutes earlier.

The Jackals had a chance of their own just past the hour mark. Some of the backs joined in on an attacking lineout and when the maul was slowed Dewald Kotze broke to the side, but he was held up. The pressure stayed on until Booysen broke down the short side of an ensuing ruck, offloading to Campbell Johnstone who fed Conrado Roura for the finish.

It was New York who dictated the final minutes. Charlie Hewitt reached out from a ruck to score a sixth try, and then the seventh went to Nick Feakes who stepped through a gap on the end of a long passage of play. The match would not end on a high for the Ironworkers. Captain Nate Brakeley was helped off with a knee injury two minutes before full-time, and a minute later Brendon O’Connor was binned for a breakdown infringement.

Both teams return to action next Saturday. The Ironworkers hit the road to take on ATL, while the Jackals return home to face the NOLA Gold.

 

SCORING

NEW YORK 43
Tries (7) – P. Haini (24′), C. Buckley 2 (28′, 37′), T. Fidow (32′), T. Langi (51′), C. Hewitt (66′), N. Feakes (74′)
Cons (4) – J. Emery 2/5 (25′, 52′), S. Windsor 2/2 (67′, 75′)
YC (1) – B. O’Connor (79′)

DALLAS 14
Tries (2) – L. Sitama (11′), C. Roura (61′)
Cons (2) – No kick (11′), A. Torres 1/1 (62′)

 

TEAMS

NEW YORK IRONWORKERS
1 Nic Mayhew (17 Tevita Langi 48′), 2 Dylan Fawsitt (16 DaQuan Perry 67′), 3 Kaleb Geiger (18 Sam Davies 62′), 4 Nate Brakeley (capt.)*, 5 Hamish Dalzell, 6 Brad Tucker, 7 Monate Akuei (20 Brendon O’Connor 52′), 8 Pago Haini (19 Charlie Hewitt 52′), 9 Connor Buckley (21 Conor McManus 52′), 10 Jason Emery (22 Sam Windsor 62′), 11 Teofilo Fidow, 12 Teihorangi Walden, 13 Fa’asiu Fuatai, 14 Brooklyn Hardaker, 15 Andrew Coe (23 Nick Feakes 67′)

*4 Nate Brakeley left the field with injury at 78 minutes and could not be replaced

DALLAS JACKALS
1 Liam Murray (16 Alex Tucci 71′), 2 Dewald Kotze (17 Connor Robinson 62′), 3 Juan Pablo Zeiss (18 Herman Agenbag 62′), 4 Sam Golla, 5 Lucas Bur (19 Carson Shoemaker 78′), 6 Jerónimo Gómez Vara (capt.) (19 Carson Shoemaker 67′-76′), 7 Conrado Roura, 8 Adriaan Booysen (20 Cameron Nelson 62′), 9 Pedro Imhoff (21 Danny Christensen HT), 10 Alejandro Torres, 11 Lui Sitama (22 Juan Pablo Aguirre 67′), 12 Tomás Cubilla (23 James Vaifale 71′), 13 Tomás Malanos, 14 Campbell Johnstone, 15 Marcos Moroni

 

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Robin Kaluzniak (Canada)
Assistants: Miles McIvor (USA) & Marty Steffens (USA)
TMO: Nick Hannon (USA)