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The Seattle Seawolves claimed a handsome 20-14 victory over the Utah Warriors at Zions Bank Stadium on Saturday evening. It was a closely-fought contest throughout that featured exhilarating action but also moments of confusion.
There was controversy five minutes in as Riekert Hattingh was sent to sin bin after the assistant referee spotted something in what appeared to be an innocuous collision with Chad Gough. The Seawolves captain looked perplexed as he strolled to the sideline.
Utah’s assault was turned away and Seattle cleared their lines. At the other end the Warriors conceded a penalty but JP Smith sliced his penalty attempt and Hattingh would return with score still at zeroes.
Smith would have a second shot just short of the half-hour mark at the end of a long sequence that saw both teams attacking. This time the flags went up, and they did so again soon after as Smith landed a second in identical fashion.
Hattingh’s redemption came just before halftime. Ross Neal made ground on the right wing, and then Tavite Lopeti stabbed a perfectly-weighted grubber off his left foot with his captain stretching out to ground the ball as he slid over the line. Smith added the extras, but Utah responded quickly.
Lance Williams and Calvin Whiting charged down the left flank, and then Caleb Makene connected with Mika Kruse who had come off his wing to attack the midfield. Kruse’s back-handed offload put Connor Burns into space and the right winger sped through a gap and swerved past Duncan Matthews to score under the posts.
The Warriors took the lead four minutes into the second half. After multiple phases of attack Chad Gough made a half-break and was stopped just short. One ruck later Williams rolled over the top and reached out to ground the ball, with Whiting’s conversion tipping the scale towards Utah.
It was 20 minutes until the lead changed again. Hattingh was denied from the back of a scrum, but he would get his double from in close after a sniping run from Reid Watkins pinned the Warriors on their goal line. Smith was on song with the conversion to make it a six point game.
With time winding down the Warriors had two attacking lineouts but couldn’t hang on to the ball and Seattle cleared. Utah held possession in their own end but with time expired Whiting inexplicably hammered the ball downfield into touch and the referee signaled full-time.
Things don’t get any easier for the Warriors as they face a road match against the New England Free Jacks next Saturday. It’s an extra day off for the Seawolves, who are also on the road to take on the Austin Gilgronis on Sunday.
SCORING
UTAH 14
Tries – C. Burns (40′), L. Williams (43′)
Cons – No kick (40′), C. Whiting 1/1 (44′)
SEATTLE 20
Tries – R. Hattingh 2 (37′, 62′)
Cons – J. Smith 2/2 (38′, 63′)
Pens – J. Smith 2/3 (27′, 33′)
YC – R. Hattingh (5′)
TEAMS
UTAH WARRIORS
1 Franco van den Berg (17 Emerson Prior 65′), 2 Chad Gough (16 Joey Backe 72′), 3 Paul Mullen (18 Angus MacLellan 53′), 4 Jurie van Vuuren, 5 Thomas Tu’avao (19 Saia Uhila 53′), 6 Mike Gieselman (20 Puna Vuli 63′), 7 Bailey Wilson (capt.), 8 Lance Williams, 9 Danny Christensen (21 Zion Going 72′), 10 Caleb Makene (22 Cliven Loubser 53′), 11 Mika Kruse, 12 Calvin Whiting, 13 Tyler Fisher, 14 Connor Burns (23 Joe Mano 67′), 15 Mike Te’o
SEATTLE SEAWOLVES
1 Mzamo Majola, 2 James Malcolm (16 Sean McNulty 53′), 3 Sam Matenga (18 Tim Metcher 63′), 4 Brad Tucker (20 Tommy Clark 72′), 5 Rhyno Herbst, 6 Ben Landry (19 Travis Larsen HT), 7 Andrew Durutalo, 8 Riekert Hattingh (capt.), 9 Reid Watkins, 10 JP Smith, 11 Ross Neal, 12 Tavite Lopeti (21 David Busby 67′-72′), 13 Dan Kriel, 14 Lauina Futi (21 David Busby 76′), 15 Duncan Matthews
Not used: 17 Kellen Gordon, 22 Lopeti Aisea, 23 Jeremiah Sio
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Scott Green (USA)
Assistants: George Selwood (England) & Paulo Duarte (Portugal)
TMO: Chris Assmus (Canada)
