Defending champions New York have lived to fight another day, but not before being forced to come from behind very late to win their playoff game against Washington Saturday night in the American National Rugby League quarterfinals.
The Knights scored a game-winning try inside the final minute of play to beat the DC Slayers 28-22.
Washington was in front 22-18 late in the fourth quarter of what was a very intense and entertaining match at Pier 40 in Manhattan, but couldn’t hold on for the win.
New York scored an unconverted try to tie it up at 22-22 with just a few minutes left on the clock, before Chris Carey got the game-winner with a minute to go. An inside ball from Todd Fischer put Carey into space and he did the rest.
“We’ve been defending very well this season, but we keep shooting ourselves in the foot by not completing,” New York coach Guillaume Cieutat told ARN. “Washington was dangerous and we needed more composure.”
The Knights didn’t complete their sets and gave away penalties at crucial times on the night, although in the end they sent their fans home smiling.
Other New York tries were scored by Fischer (2), Xavier Lozinguez and Tom Scheinzbach.
“We had it but we let it get away,” added Slayers manager Rich Nolte.
Slayers try-scorers were Tom O’Connor (2), Ryan O’Connell and Asa Jerald, while Michael Chapman was good on three conversions.
In the early quarterfinal, the Aston Bulls and Philadelphia Fight had to go to OT to determine a winner with Aston eventually finishing on top 46-30.
Three tries, two of which were converted, in the two 10-minute extra periods got the Bulls home. It was all locked up at 30-30 at the end of the fourth quarter as the two teams went blow for blow throughout regulation.
Aston had two men binned, one during regulation and the other in Overtime, meaning they played with 12 men for more than an hour in total.
“The boys played really hard and bled for each other,” Aston coach Marcus Vassilakopoulos told ARN. “They hung in there with 12 men for 70 minutes. They never gave up and fully deserved the win.”
Bulls’ try-scorers included Conway Maraki (3), Kevin Wiggins (2), Louis Tulio, Andrew Kneisly and Alex Valentin, while Chris Ratcliff was 7-for-8 on conversions. Marakai, Wiggins and Tulio are all former Rugby Super League players who’ve converted to Rugby League.
“We’re disappointed because we had the potential to go on, but we respect the Bulls and they’re a team that we’ll just have to overcome,” commented Philadelphia coach Peter Illfield.
Costly errors at inopportune times were the Fight’s downfall. Captain Phil Shipos was Philly’s Man of the Match. Their tries were scored by Sal Ranniello, Matt Worthington, Nick O’Connor, Nathan Roach and Brad Kielinski. Michael Princic converted all five tries.
And in the other quarterfinal, the New Haven Warriors overpowered the Fairfax Eagles 80-26 to clinch a semifinal berth.
(Dawn Minichino photo)
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Kickoff was delayed as the Eagles arrived at the ground late and with only 11 players due to traffic congestion and a team vehicle breakdown on I-95, but once the game started it was all one-way traffic as the Warriors opened the scoring early and didn’t take their foot off the gas until the final quarter when the game was well in hand.
New Haven put up 40 points in the first quarter and had built an unassailable 64-16 lead by the end of the third term, the result of yet another dominant performance up front.
Skipper Siose Muliumu (2) and Roy Leoni (2) led all New Haven try-scorers as the Warriors’ execution was spot on. They passed the ball at will, ran straight lines and their support play was virtually flawless.
“I’ve got to credit the guys who went up there and played, but it’s been a disappointing season,” said Fairfax president Steve Grant. “I think we should’ve done better than we did.”
Eagles’ try-scorers included John Young (3) Reece Blayney and Hannibal Vaivao. Blayney also booted three conversions.
The results have set up some tasty semifinals next Saturday, August 21 with New Haven and Jacksonville hosting.
Semifinal matchups (home team listed first):
New Haven Warriors v New York Knights
Jacksonville Axemen v Aston Bulls
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