Old Glory earn scrappy road win over SaberCats

photo credit: Jeremy Fletcher / Bigshots Snapshots / Houston SaberCats

Recap

Old Glory DC made it two wins on the trot as they scrapped to a 22-13 victory over the Houston SaberCats at AVEVA Stadium on Saturday. In a stop-start match that featured numerous penalties and only rare continuity, the boot of DC flyhalf Jason Robertson proved the difference.

It was Robertson who started the scoring with a routine penalty after Houston had conceded two consecutive penalties. The SaberCats fired back with a try through Tiaan Loots. Sam Windsor’s grubber in behind the defense was turned over and Loots bashed through two DC forwards to score under the posts.

The switch flipped with Robertson landing his second penalty moments later. Old Glory was again pulverised in the scrum but their lineout was working smoothly, and when Houston’s maul defense spun the wrong way Mungo Mason had the simplest of routes to the line.

Robertson nailed the sideline conversion to give Old Glory a six-point lead but that would soon evaporate. Windsor landed his own penalty and then added a second to make the score dead even at halftime.

The second half did not go to play for the SaberCats. Poor handling and more penalties saw Robertson landing his third penalty early in the half. There was little gained by either side for 20 minutes before Renata Roberts-Te Nana was binned for an act of frustration.

Houston could not take advantage, however, and instead it was Robertson who landed his fourth penalty goal. Diego Magno’s off-the-ball tackle earned him an early shower and gave Robertson his fifth penalty, in doing so taking the SaberCats out of bonus point range.

 

SCORING

HOUSTON 13
Tries – T. Loots (11’)
Cons – S. Windsor 1/1 (12’)
Pens – S. Windsor 2/2 (26’, 30’)
Yellow cards – D. Magno (78’)

DC 22
Tries – M. Mason (22’)
Cons – J. Robertson 1/1 (23’)
Pens – J. Robertson 5/6 (9’, 15’, 43’, 71’, 79’)
Yellow cards – R. Roberts-Te Nana (65’)

 

TEAMS

HOUSTON SABERCATS
1 Nicolás Solveyra (17 Valdemar Lee-Lo 58’), 2 Diego Fortuny (16 Tim Cadwallader 75’), 3 Charlie Connolly (18 Boyd Wiggins 60’), 4 Kyle Breytenbach, 5 Robert Meeson (19 Victor Comptat 52’), 6 Luke Beauchamp, 7 Cecil Garber (20 Adriaan Booysen 58’), 8 Diego Magno, 9 De Wet Roos (capt.), 10 Sam Windsor, 11 Malacchi Esdale (23 Tim Stanfill 72’), 12 Tiaan Loots, 13 Thomas Morani, 14 Kieran Farmer, 15 Osea Kolinisau (21 Taylor Howden 68’)

Not used: 22 Zachary Short

OLD GLORY DC
1 Tendai Mtawarira (17 Jake Turnbull HT), 2 Dante Lopresti (16 Max Lum 50’), 3 Gordon Fullerton (18 Will Vakalahi 48’), 4 Tevita Naqali, 5 Dylan Pieterse, 6 Matt Hughston (19 Travis Larsen 52’), 7 Mungo Mason (co-capt.), 8 Jamason Fa’anana-Schultz (20 Josh Brown 60’), 9 Danny Tusitala (21 Michael Reid 80’), 10 Jason Robertson (22 Mike Dabulas 80’), 11 Renata Roberts-Te Nana, 12 Ciaran Hearn (23 Doug Fraser 60’), 13 Thretton Palamo (co-capt.), 14 Declan O’Donnell, 15 Dylan Taikato-Simpson

 

Result

TeamTCPDPoints
Houston SaberCats112013
Old Glory DC115022

Houston SaberCats

1Nicolás Solveyra 17 Loosehead Prop
2Diego Fortuny 16 Hooker
3Charlie Connolly 18 Tighthead Prop
4Kyle Breytenbach Right Lock
5Robert Meeson 19 Left Lock
6Luke Beauchamp Blindside Flanker
7Cecil Garber 20 Openside Flanker
8Diego Magno Number Eight
9De Wet Roos Scrumhalf
10Sam Windsor Flyhalf
11Malacchi Esdale 23 Left Wing
12Tiaan Loots Inside Center
13Thomas Morani Outside Center
14Kieran Farmer Right Wing
15Osea Kolinisau 21 Fullback
16Tim Cadwallader 2 Hooker
17Valdemar Lee-Lo 1 Loosehead Prop
18Boyd Wiggins 3 Tighthead Prop
19Victor Comptat 5 Left Lock
20Adriaan Booysen 7 Number Eight
21Taylor Howden 15 Outside Center
22Zachary Short Scrumhalf
23Tim Stanfill 11 Left Wing

Old Glory DC

1Tendai Mtawarira 17 Loosehead Prop
2Dante Lopresti 16 Hooker
3Gordon Fullerton 18 Tighthead Prop
4Tevita Naqali Right Lock
5Dylan Pieterse Left Lock
6Matt Hughston 19 Blindside Flanker
7Mungo Mason Openside Flanker
8Jamason Fa’anana-Schultz 20 Number Eight
9Danny Tusitala 21 Scrumhalf
10Jason Robertson 22 Flyhalf
11Renata Roberts-Te Nana Left Wing
12Ciaran Hearn 23 Inside Center
13Thretton Palamo Outside Center
14Declan O’Donnell Right Wing
15Dylan Taikato-Simpson Fullback
16Max Lum 2 Loosehead Prop
17Jake Turnbull 1 Loosehead Prop
18Will Vakalahi 3 Tighthead Prop
19Travis Larsen 6 Blindside Flanker
20Josh Brown 8 Number Eight
21Michael Reid 9 Scrumhalf
22Mike Dabulas 10 Flyhalf
23Doug Fraser 12 Outside Center

Officials

Referee
Derek Summers (USA)
Assistant Referee 1
Joe Burpoe (USA)
Assistant Referee 2
Greg Varnell (USA)

Details

Date Time League Season
February 22, 2020 8:00 pm Eastern Conference 2020

Venue

AVEVA Stadium
12131 Kirby Dr, Houston, TX 77045, USA

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