Chicago takes maximum on the road over Miami

Chicago came away from Florida with a 31-18 result over Miami on Friday night, earning maximum points for the Hounds. While the final scoreline suggests a comfortable win for the visitors, it was the Sharks who held a one-point lead well past the 60th minute before the Hounds finally pulled away.

Christopher Hilsenbeck landed a three-pointer in the 8th minute to open the scoring for the visitors. Ill-discipline from the Sharks handed over more field position, and the Hounds pressed the line until Maclean Jones went over from short range with the extras making it 10-nil to Chicago.

Things went from bad to worse for Miami when Tau Koloamatangi was binned for an illegal clearout, but inspiration from Manuel Ardao brought them back in the game. The Uruguayan flanker pressured Mitch Short and the Hounds scrumhalf’s loose pass was picked off by Tomás Inciarte. Appropriately it was Ardao himself who got the finish with Santiago Videla landing the conversion from out wide.

Videla added a penalty goal two minutes before halftime to level the scores, but a knock-on at the restart handed the ball straight back to Chicago. Before the teams could head into the sheds Mason Flesch crashed in under the posts for an automatic seven, leading it 17-10 to the visitors after 40 minutes.

Early in the second half Hounds captain Lucas Rumball saw yellow for an upright tackle, and the Sharks took full advantage. From the subsequent lineout the drive came on and with little resistance Kirby Myhill went over the line to close the gap. Videla couldn’t quite land the conversion but he made good on a penalty goal at the hour mark to nudge Miami ahead by one.

The final quarter saw the benches empty and it was the Hounds reserves who made the biggest impact. Conall Boomer muscled his way over from in tight, and then a huge line break from Jackson Zabierek pinned Miami deep in their end. There was no escape as the Hounds squeezed until Ollie Devoto reached out from a tackle to ground the ball and secure the bonus point in the 76th minute.

Both teams will play at home next Saturday. Chicago will take on another Eastern Conference side as Old Glory DC makes the trip from the nation’s capital. For Miami it’s a Western Conference contender as the high flying Utah Warriors travel east from the Rockies.

 

SCORING

MIAMI 18
Tries (2) – M. Ardao (29′), K. Myhill (44′)
Cons (1) – S. Videla 1/2 (30′)
Pens (2) – S. Videla 2/2 (38′, 59′)
YC (1) – T. Koloamatangi (22′)

CHICAGO 31
Tries (4) – M. Jones (14′), M. Flesch (40′), C. Boomer (66′), O. Devoto (76′)
Cons (3) – C. Hilsenbeck 3/3 (15′, 67′, 77′), No kick (40′)
Pens (1) – C. Hilsenbeck 1/1 (8′)
YC (1) – L. Rumball (43′)

LINEUPS

MIAMI SHARKS
1 Ma’ake Muti (17 Alec McDonnell 54′), 2 Kirby Myhill (16 Sean McNulty 50′), 3 Tau Koloamatangi (18 Alex Tucci 65′), 4 Tomás Casares, 5 Mauro Rebussone (23 Chase Schor-Haskin 72′), 6 Manuel Ardao (20 Tomás Bekerman 77′), 7 Benjamín Bonasso, 8 Ronan Foley (19 Marques Fuala’au 50′), 9 Tomás Inciarte (21 Damian Morley 77′), 10 Santiago Videla, 11 Tomás Cubilla, 12 Guiseppe du Toit, 13 Matías Orlando (capt.), 14 Marcos Young, 15 Tomás Malanos (22 Connor Burns 77′)

CHICAGO HOUNDS
1 Faka’osi Pifeleti (17 Liam Fletcher 49′), 2 Janus Venter (16 Jackson Zabierek 49′), 3 Ignacio Péculo (18 Koby Baker 78′), 4 James Scott (20 Luke White 74′), 5 Hamish Bain (19 Conall Boomer 48′), 6 Mason Flesch, 7 Maclean Jones (21 Matthew Oworu 67′), 8 Lucas Rumball (capt.), 9 Mitch Short, 10 Christopher Hilsenbeck (23 Sam Walsh 78′), 11 Nate Augspurger, 12 Ollie Devoto, 13 Bryce Campbell, 14 Noah Brown, 15 Ben Pollack (22 Jason Higgins 60′)

MATCH INFO

Date: Friday, March 7
Venue: Baptist Health Community Field, Fort Lauderdale
Kickoff: 19:00 local
Weather: clear, 73°F (23°C), wind SE 8-12mph (13-19km/h)

OFFICIALS

Referee: Peter Pender (Canada)
Assistants: Luke Rogan (USA) & Tom Ciampa (USA)
TMO: Greg Gilliam (USA)

HIGHLIGHTS