Toronto shut out in Glendale blizzard

The Toronto Arrows were shut out 22-0 by the Glendale Raptors at Infinity Park on Saturday. Horrendous conditions were endured by the players with temperatures well below freezing and blowing snow that got worse as the game progressed. That they took to the field at all was a victory in itself.

To their credit both teams attempted to play attacking rugby despite the obstacles, and three of Glendale’s four tries were scored in the corner. The first saw Chad Gough loitering with intent and this time he only had to run a couple meters to score. His initial foray was stopped but Mika Kruse arrived just in time to help roll him out of Andrew Ferguson’s tackle.

Dylan Taikato-Simpson was next to dive in at the right corner after the Arrows defense had gravitated inwards. It came just before halftime to give the Raptors a 10-0 lead, and they scored again just moments into the second half as quick hands put Harley Davidson over.

Toronto were dominant at the scrum but could get nothing from it. Kicking was near impossible with Sam Malcolm’s only attempt of the game a fruitless effort. Robbie Petzer missed all three of his conversions from wide out, and it wasn’t until the last score of the game that a ball would sail through the uprights.

As the gold took its toll the Arrows were forced to play the last six minutes with only 14 players as Jack Evans trudged off and all available replacements had been used. Meanwhile Glendale brought on fresh legs and it was Zach Fenoglio who would get the fourth try.

The former Eagles hooker followed up a Luke White break, picking from a ruck just a meter out to wrap up the bonus point. Carlo de Nysschen landed the conversion and the game mercifully came to a close moments after a final restart.

Glendale will be hoping for warmer weather when they host Austin Elite at Infinity Park on Saturday. Toronto will be ecstatic about their next destination as they take a trip to balmy San Diego where they face the Legion on Sunday.

 

SCORING

GLENDALE 22
Tries – C. Gough (16’), D. Taikato-Simpson (36’), H. Davidson (42’), Z. Fenoglio (78’)
Cons – R. Petzer 0/3, C. de Nysschen 1/1 (79’)
Yellow cards – C. Cook (9’)

TORONTO 0
Pens – S. Malcolm 0/1

 

TEAMS

GLENDALE RAPTORS
1 Blake Rogers (17 Max Lum 60’), 2 Chad Gough (16 Zach Fenoglio 65’), 3 Marco Fepulea’i (18 Kelepi Fifita 67’), 4 Brendan Daly, 5 Luke White (capt.), 6 Connor Cook, 7 Peter Dahl (20 Malon Al-Jiboori 53’), 8 Will Munro (19 Casey Rock 67’), 9 Carlo de Nysschen, 10 Ata Malifa, 11 Harley Davidson, 12 Robbie Petzer (23 Nick Johnson 74’), 13 Mika Kruse, 14 John Ryberg, 15 Dylan Taikato-Simpson (22 Chad London 60’)

Not used: 21 Mickey Bateman

TORONTO ARROWS
1 Rob Brouwer (17 Pat Lynott 67’), 2 Andrew Quattrin (16 Steven Ng 67’), 3 Morgan Mitchell (18 Tom Dolezel 60’), 4 Mike Sheppard, 5 Paul Ciulini (19 Josh van Horne 67’), 6 Peter Milazzo, 7 Marcello Wainwright, 8 Kolby Francis (20 Andrew Wilson 46’), 9 Andrew Ferguson (21 Riley DiNardo 53’), 10 Sam Malcolm (23 Jack Evans HT), 11 Johnny Sheridan (22 Jamie Leveridge 28’), 12 Spencer Jones, 13 Dan Moor (capt.), 14 Avery Oitomen, 15 Shawn Windsor

*23 Jack Evans came off at 74′ with no available subs remaining

 

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Luke Rogan (USAR)
Assistants: Paul-Henri Courbier (USAR) & Cam Pettit (USAR)