Phil Shipos breaks a tackle for the Fight.
(Photos courtesy of Marvin Dangerfield Photography)
The New Haven Warriors and Aston Bulls have moved into a two-way tie for first place after three rounds of the American National Rugby League competition.
Both teams posted huge wins Saturday with the Bulls tuning the Fairfax Eagles 96-22 and New Haven belting the Northern Raiders 74-5.
Despite the lop-sided score against them, the Eagles earned a bonus point for scoring four tries even though they were missing 15 A-graders for various reasons.
Philly capt Brad Kielinski (Marvin Dangerfield photo)
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USA Tomahawk Nate Smith was a one-man wrecking crew for Aston tallying 36 points on his own.
“It was a hot day but the boys played okay,” Bulls coach Marcus Vassilakopoulos told ARN. “We still have lots to work on and we have a tough game next week at Jacksonville.”
The Raiders, also on the wrong end of a canning, blooded more rugby union converts from the White Plains and Kingston clubs. Player/coach Joel Venables kicked the club’s first point of the season with a drop goal and Paulo Reis got his team’s only try of the day.
Eric Moreira was the Raiders’ defensive player of the match, while Chris Taglia and Tony Kalamas played well in a losing cause.
In the late game, the Philadelphia Fight got by the Washington DC Slayers 40-26. DC led 10-0 at the end of the first quarter, but couldn’t hold off the Fight, who began to find their rhythm in the second period.
Philly was up by 16-10 at the half and didn’t give up the lead from there. The Slayers rallied late to get within striking distance at 36-26 inside the final six minutes, but they left their run too late as the Fight closed out the game for their second win of the young season.
Washington picked up a bonus point for tries with Ryan O'Connell (2) Tom O'Connor, Jaron McLaurin and Ron Mahn crossing the line.
"Even though we traveled up light my players showed a lot of heart, especially with the comeback in the fourth quarter," said Slayers coach Bill Weeks.
In the Friday night clash in Pittsburgh, the Boston 13s posted their maiden W of the season beating the hometown Vipers 48-16.
Stephen Carson led the way for Boston with a hat-trick of tries and a perfect 8-from-8 on conversions for a personal haul of 28 points.
He was ably assisted by Jon Mixon, who also bagged three tries, Andrew Laine and George Aroyan, both of whom scored singles.
Pittsburgh just missed out on securing a bonus point by scoring three tries.
Elsewhere, the match between the New York Knights and Connecticut Wildcats was rescheduled for Sunday in Norwalk, CT.
And in northern Florida, the Jacksonville Axemen used their bye week to play a hybrid exhibition game against the Jacksonville rugby union club. The Axemen won 30-14.
The game consisted of 40 minutes of league and 40 minutes of union and drew a good crowd to the University of North Florida’s Hodges Stadium.
Standings (unofficial):
New Haven Warriors (3-0) 15pts
Aston DSC Bulls (3-0) 15pts
Philadelphia Fight (2-1) 11pts
New York Knights (2-1) 11pts
Jacksonville Axemen (2-0) 10pts
Fairfax Eagles (1-2) 6pts
Boston 13s (1-2) 5pts
Washington DC Slayers (0-2) 2pts
Connecticut Wildcats (0-2) 2pts
Pittsburgh Vipers (0-2) 0pts
Northern Raiders (0-2) 0pts
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