Houston hold on to beat Utah by two

Recap

In a stop-start game that won’t go down as one of the classics in Major League Rugby history, the Houston SaberCats did just enough to defeat the Utah Warriors 29-27 on Thursday evening. It was the final match at Constellation Field with the SaberCats set to move to their new permanent home at AVEVA Stadium for their game against Seattle on April 12.

Houston ran out to a 17-0 lead in the opening quarter. Sam Windsor was in top form with the boot and he landed the opening penalty just four minutes in. The set piece was a problem throughout for Utah, and Houston’s scrum earned them field position with numerous penalties.

Zach Pangelinan would get the first try for the SaberCats, a simple pass finding the fullback in space with the Warriors defense lost at sea. A second try would come moments later. John Cullen tipped the ball back from the lineout but Sione Ika just watched as Pat O’Toole snagged the bounce and somehow sprinted 45 meters untouched to score.

The Warriors backline looked threatening throughout but couldn’t seem to string together the final pass. After Don Pati broke through it looked as though they had botched the attack, but Houston were shorthanded on the blindside leaving the door wide open for Angus MacLellan to capitalise.

Tim O’Malley was also pinpoint from the tee and he added his own penalty goal, but it was quickly erased by Windsor. The final play of the half saw Franco van den Berg sprint through a half-gap, with his offload finding Gannon Moore. There was no stopping the Eagles flyer who made easy work of the cover, with O’Malley’s extras making it 20-17 to Houston at the break.

The gap disappeared completely in the 49th minute when O’Malley nailed a long-range kick from a tough angle. Like clockwork, however, the Warriors conceded a penalty immediately and Windsor duly obliged to restore Houston’s lead.

Utah looked to have cracked the defense just ahead of the second half hydration break John Cullen burst free but the referee judged one of the passes to be forward. Instead it was Windsor who struck again with two more penalties giving him a perfect seven from seven and 19 points on the night.

The final minutes were made interesting as the Warriors closed in and Lance Williams reached out to touch the ball on the line for a late try. They would get one last crack from the restart, but just as it looked as though progress was made the attack drifted too close to the sideline and they were sheepishly driven into touch.

SCORING

HOUSTON 29
Tries – Z. Pangelinan (13’), P. O’Toole (16’)
Cons – S. Windsor 2/2 (14’, 17’)
Pens – S. Windsor 5/5 (4’, 33’, 51’, 63’, 75’)
Drop goals – S. Windsor 0/1

UTAH 27
Tries – A. MacLellan (21’), G. Moore (39’), L. Williams (78’)
Cons – T. O’Malley 3/3 (22’, 40’, 79’)
Pens – T. O’Malley 2/2 (27’, 49’)

TEAMS

HOUSTON SABERCATS
1 Mateo Sanguinetti (17 Jake Turnbull 54’), 2 Pat O’Toole (16 Amro Gouda 72’), 3 Charlie Connolly (18 Jamie Dever 54’), 4 Diego Magno (20 Chris Parker 72’), 5 Matt Trouville (capt.) (19 Victor Comptat 60’), 6 Luke Beauchamp, 7 Cecil Garber (22 Chris Coyle 60’), 8 Alejandro Nieto, 9 Connor Murphy, 10 Sam Windsor, 11 Malacchi Esdale, 12 Conor Mills, 13 Max Tacket, 14 Kelly Kolberg, 15 Zach Pangelinan

Not used: 21 Kieran Farmer, 23 Ayron Schramm

UTAH WARRIORS
1 Franco van den Berg (17 Huluholo Mo’ungaloa 76’), 2 Jeremy Leber, 3 Angus MacLellan (20 Alex Tucci 60’-76’), 4 Saia Uhila, 5 Matt Jensen, 6 Jackson Kaka (19 Arthur Bergo 76’), 7 Lance Williams, 8 John Cullen, 9 Johnny Ika, 10 James Semple, 11 Fetu’u Vainikolo (21 Tonata Lauti 64’), 12 Tim O’Malley (capt.), 13 Gannon Moore, 14 Josh Anderson (22 Jeremy Misailegalu 76’), 15 Don Pati

Not used: 16 Blake Burdette, 18 Kenny Scott, 23 Joseph Nicholls