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Rugby United New York bounced back from their loss in Seattle with a dominant 35-8 win over the Houston SaberCats on Saturday evening. The visitors outscored their hosts by five tries to one and looked in complete control throughout though they never quite got out of cruise control.
The first points came via the driving maul as Dylan Fawsitt added five points to his stats sheet. Sam Windsor knocked over three points after a rare foray into New York territory, but the points were erased with interest as James Denise was on hand to dive over after Connor Wallace-Sims was stopped short.
Denise would get a second not long after halftime, again from short range. This time it was on the back of a strong Ross Deacon carry from the base of an attacking scrum. The bonus point came shortly after via Ben Foden, the England international coasting through an enormous gap in the SaberCats defense.
Houston lost influential scrumhalf Connor Murphy to a head knock just after the hour mark but instead of deflating they rolled up their socks and went all-in on a lineout drive. Even replacement halfback Chris Saint was in on the act as Pat O’Toole was heaved over by the 12-man effort.
The frustration was evident in the dying moments of the match as a loose pass was scooped up by Derek Lipscomb for an easy seven-pointer. Josua Vici was shown yellow for a bit of afters following the touchdown but New York opted to kick the ball dead on the ensuing penalty at halfway to end the game.
Next up for New York is a game against the Utah Warriors at Zions Bank Stadium on Friday evening. It doesn’t get any easier for the struggling SaberCats as they will have to suffer the long trip to Starfire Stadium where the defending champion Seattle Seawolves await on Sunday.
SCORING
HOUSTON 8
Tries – P. O’Toole (67’)
Cons – S. Windsor 0/1
Pens – S. Windsor 1/1 (21’)
Yellow cards – L. Beauchamp (25’), J. Vici (80’)
NEW YORK 35
Tries – D. Fawsitt (13’), J. Denise 2 (27’, 48’), B. Foden (53’), D. Lipscomb (80’)
Cons – C. Marsh 3/3 (14’, 28’, 49’), C. Mattina 2/2 (54’, 80’)
TEAMS
HOUSTON SABERCATS
1 Jamie Dever, 2 Pat O’Toole (16 Amro Gouda 74’), 3 Charlie Connolly (17 Jake Turnbull 54’), 4 Robert Meeson, 5 Matt Trouville (capt.), 6 Chris Parker (20 Chad Joseph 51’), 7 Luke Beauchamp, 8 Ayron Schramm (19 Cecil Garber 74’), 9 Connor Murphy (21 Chris Saint 66’), 10 Sam Windsor, 11 Malacchi Esdale, 12 Conor Mills (22 Max Tacket 69’), 13 Osea Kolinisau, 14 Josua Vici, 15 Zach Pangelinan
Not used: 18 Matt Almeida, 23 Kelly Kolberg
RUGBY UNITED NEW YORK
1 James Rochford (17 Anthony Parry 54’), 2 Dylan Fawsitt, 3 Paddy Ryan (18 Chris Sullivan 51’), 4 Alex MacDonald, 5 Trevor Cassidy (19 Matt Wirken 76’), 6 Matt Hughston (20 Myles McQuone 61’), 7 James Denise, 8 Ross Deacon (16 Mike Brown 72’), 9 Mike Petri (capt.) (21 Marcus Walsh 63’), 10 Cathal Marsh (23 Derek Lipscomb 66’), 11 Connor Wallace-Sims (22 Gavan D’Amore-Morrison 74’), 12 Will Leonard, 13 Mark O’Keeffe, 14 Chris Mattina, 15 Ben Foden
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Ben Crouse (SARU)
Assistants: Gavin McCandless (USAR) & Greg Varnell (USAR)
