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Old Glory fought back from a steep deficit to earn two bonus points on the road, but in the end the Hounds made it three wins in a row with a 30-26 result on Saturday afternoon. Very windy conditions saw DC spending almost the entire first half pinned in the end. When they did have possession, a lively backline caused havoc for Chicago’s defense.
Christopher Hilsenbeck missed a long-range shot at goal with less than two minutes gone in the contest, but he made good from in close to open the scoring just shy of the 10-minute mark. The wind then carried Ollie Devoto’s long kick ahead past the dead ball line and after Nick Grigg punched over the gainline the Hounds defense went missing. Perry Humphreys was the benefactor with the winger crossing in the right corner to give the visitors a slender lead.
A response came from the Hounds after their scrum won a penalty, with the forwards applying pressure until Maclean Jones went over from in close. Hilsenbeck tacked on another three pointer as DC’s penalty count began to rise steadily. The referee lost his patience and sent Jack Iscaro to the bin for side entry at a maul, and with the DC pack down to seven a penalty try for a collapsed scrum soon followed.
Nate Augspurger received a yellow card for a tip tackle to make it 14-men apiece, and the extra space seemed to benefit Old Glory. A long attacking sequence ended with Axel Muller on the end of an overlap, but the hard work was wiped off the board when a TMO review spotted dangerous play from Lautaro Bavaro in the build-up.
Bavaro was fortunate not to see a card on that occasion, but he would soon run afoul of the officials once again and this time a neck roll at a ruck earned the loose forward 10 minutes on the sideline. Hilsenbeck landed his third penalty into the wind to make it 23-5 to the home side.
The momentum began to swing with Conall Boomer was carded for collapsing a maul. It didn’t take long for DC to build another overlap and again it was Humphreys taking the credit, this time looking for work on the left side. A line break from Damien Hoyland put the Hounds on the retreat once again and Cory Daniel did the finishing with two Jason Robertson conversions closing the gap to just four point.
DC lost their concentration and made a hash of the restart, and in a flash Jones was in again for his double. An overthrow at the lineout gave Old Glory a chance and quick hands down the line found Humphreys in space for his hat trick. With time up the clock the visitors were in possession and moving forward but Robertson took his eye off the ball for a split-second and it proved costly, the knock-on bringing with it the final whistle.
Chicago will enjoy a week off before returning to action against the Gold in New Orleans on March 29. DC face another Eastern Conference rival when they host the New England Free Jacks next Saturday.
| SCORING |
CHICAGO 30
Tries (3) – M. Jones 2 (19′, 64′), Penalty try (31′)
Cons (3) – C. Hilsenbeck 2/2 (20′, 65′), No kick (31′)
Pens (3) – C. Hilsenbeck 3/4 (9′, 24′, 53′)
YC (2) – N. Augspurger (34′), C. Boomer (54′)
DC 26
Tries (4) – P. Humphreys 3 (13′, 58′, 73′), C. Daniel (61′)
Cons (3) – J. Robertson 3/4 (59′, 62′, 74′)
YC (2) – J. Iscaro (27′), L. Bavaro (48′)
| LINEUPS |
CHICAGO HOUNDS
1 Zura Zhvania (17 Liam Fletcher 44′), 2 Dylan Fawsitt (16 Jackson Zabierek 62′), 3 Paddy Ryan (18 Charlie Abel HT), 4 James Scott, 5 Mason Flesch (19 Luke White 67′), 6 Conall Boomer (20 Matthew Oworu 67′), 7 Maclean Jones, 8 Lucas Rumball (capt.), 9 Mitch Short (21 Jason Higgins 74′), 10 Christopher Hilsenbeck, 11 Nate Augspurger, 12 Ollie Devoto, 13 Bryce Campbell (23 Noah Flesch 68′), 14 Noah Brown (22 Mark O’Keeffe 62′), 15 Adriaan Carelse
OLD GLORY DC
1 Jack Iscaro, 2 KoiKoi Nelligan (16 Facundo Gattas 72′), 3 Sam Davies (17 Cali Martinez 37′), 4 Rob Harley (capt.), 5 Tevita Naqali (19 Bill Whiteside 59′), 6 Jamason Fa’anana-Schultz (17 Cali Martinez 30′-37′) (20 Collin Grosse 59′), 7 Cory Daniel, 8 Lautaro Bavaro, 9 Connor Buckley (21 Ethan McVeigh 72′), 10 Jason Robertson, 11 Axel Müller, 12 Nick Grigg (22 John Powers 72′), 13 Steff Hughes, 14 Perry Humphreys, 15 Damien Hoyland
Not used: 18 Isikeli Kava, 23 Owen Sheehy
| MATCH INFO |
Date: Saturday, March 15
Venue: SeatGeek Stadium, Bridgeview
Kickoff: 12:00 local
Weather: sunny, 63°F (17°C), wind SW 29-37mph (46-59km/h)
| OFFICIALS |
Referee: Robin Kaluzniak (Canada)
Assistants: Moe Chaudhry (Canada) & Miles McIvor (USA)
TMO: Cam Russell (Canada)
| HIGHLIGHTS |
