SaberCats stop Arrows to move into playoff position

The Houston SaberCats moved into third spot in the Western Conference with a 48-26 win over Toronto at York Lions Stadium on Saturday. While the Arrows fought back to earn a bonus point, the match was effectively over as a contest after 40 minutes with 31 points already on the board for the visitors.

A penalty at the first scrum went Houston’s way and had the Arrows immediately on the back foot. After several phases on attack Dom Akina crashed to within a meter of the line, offloading from the deck to his center partner Louritz van der Schyff for the opening try. Robbie Povey nailed the sideline conversion and it was 5-nil to the visitors with as many minutes played.

Barely two minutes later the Cats were in again, and it was van der Schyff over for a brace. Dillon Smit sent a raking kick into the corner that left D’Shawn Bowen with no option but to carry it over the line to concede a 5-meter attacking scrum. van der Schyff took the ball from first phase and outmuscled two defenders for the try. Povey was again sound off the tee.

Toronto finally got some possession after the restart but their first scoring opportunity was thwarted, and then their second. At last the try came from a driving maul with Ramón Ayarza falling over the line to take the credit. Shane O’Leary’s conversion attempted faded just to the right of the posts.

Akina and van der Schyff combined again to make a long break down the left side. The Arrows shoved the latter into touch but they couldn’t clear their lines. From an attacking scrum van der Schyff blasted forward and then Wynand Grassmann came around the corner to touch down just beside the upright. Povey wasted no time chipping over the extras and it was 21-5.

The horror start continued as Drew Wild broke two tackles and sold a dummy to return a Ross Braude box kick 60 meters for the bonus point try. Four minutes before halftime a fifth try went up on the board. Rob Cobb blasted up the middle to put the Arrows on the retreat and Christian Dyer ran onto a short pass from Povey to breach the line. Povey’s kick rang off the left upright.

Early in the second half another try would come for Houston through Joe Taufete’e on the end of a driving maul. Owain Ruttan entered the game for the Arrows and four minutes later he punched in from close range to give the home crowd something to cheer about. The cheers turned to boos as Houston opted to take three points via Povey at the hour mark despite holding a 26-point lead.

Ruttan would grab a double soon after, barging in from close range under the posts. Keni Nasoqeqe then matched his effort at the other end. One final flurry from the Arrows saw Shay Kerry held up, and then Nasoqeqe saw yellow for a dangerous tackle. Jack McRogers would fall over the line on the back of a driving maul for a consolation bonus point in the dying second of the match.

It’s a short turnaround for Houston as they head home to take on Old Glory DC on Friday night. Toronto have an extra day off to prepare for the arrival of the San Diego Legion on Sunday.

 

SCORING

TORONTO 26
Tries (4) – R. Ayarza (15′), O. Ruttan 2 (51′, 64′), J. McRogers (79′)
Cons (3) – S. O’Leary 1/2 (52′), No kick (64′), P. Nelson 1/1 (79′)

HOUSTON 48
Tries (7) – L. van der Schyff 2 (4′, 7′), W. Grassmann (25′), D. Wild (27′), C. Dyer (36′), J. Taufete’e (46′), K. Nasoqeqe (70′)
Cons (5) – R. Povey 4/6 (5′, 8′, 25′, 47′), No kick (70′)
Pens (1) – R. Povey 1/1 (59′)
YC (1) – K. Nasoqeqe (78′)

 

TEAMS

TORONTO ARROWS
1 Connor Grindal (17 Conan O’Donnell 74′), 2 Ramón Ayarza (16 Jack McRogers 47′), 3 Tyler Rowland (18 Isaac Salmon 47′), 4 Mason Flesch, 5 Shay Kerry, 6 Lucas Rumball (capt.) (19 Hank Stevenson 67′), 7 James O’Neill (20 Owain Ruttan 47′), 8 Travis Larsen, 9 Ross Braude (21 Will Grant 60′), 10 Peter Nelson, 11 D’Shawn Bowen (23 Fabian Goodall 52′), 12 Liam Bowman, 13 Tautalatasi Tasi, 14 Ciaran Breen, 15 Shane O’Leary (22 Dawson Fatoric 70′)

HOUSTON SABERCATS
1 Rob Cobb (18 Valdemar Lee-Lo 59′), 2 Joe Taufete’e (16 Axel Zapata 52′), 3 Morgan Mitchell (17 Pono Davis HT), 4 Emmanuel Albert, 5 Marno Redelinghuys (19 Keni Nasoqeqe 55′), 6 Danny Barrett (capt.) (23 Asa Carter 70′), 7 Wynand Grassmann, 8 Malon Al-Jiboori (20 Hanco Germishuys 62′), 9 Dillon Smit (21 Nick Boyer 70′), 10 Robbie Povey, 11 Vereniki Tikoisolomone, 12 Louritz van der Schyff, 13 Dom Akina, 14 Christian Dyer, 15 Drew Wild (22 Gerrie Labuschagne 64′)

 

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Chris Assmus (Canada)
Assistants: Peter Pender (Canada) & Clint Lemkus (Canada)
TMO: Greg Gilliam (USA)