Sharks outmuscle Gold to claim first road win

The Sharks earned their first ever victory away from home with a 42-27 result over the Gold on Saturday. NOLA held a lead part-way through the first half but the beefy Miami scrum tightened their grip and in the end it was the set piece that proved the difference between the two Eastern Conference sides.

Reece Botha opened the scoring with a well-struck penalty goal just two minutes into the game. Miami’s reply came swiftly after Manuel Ardao won a breakdown turnover. Michael Hand took an inside angle on first phase from a lineout and the imposing winger fended his way through for a try on debut.

Dougie Fife put too much leather on a kick from his own end that rolled dead, conceding an attacking scrum. When the shove came on advantage was Miami’s, and a couple quick phases later Nick Grigg was over in the corner on the end of an overlap.

A penalty on the restart gave the Gold a chance for points, but they opted instead for the corner. The lineout didn’t go as planned and the Sharks attempted to clear. Santiago Videla’s kick hung up in the air and it landed in NOLA hands, with Augusto Böhme’s deft grubber between two defenders sitting up for Botha to dive in for five points.

The Gold moved ahead when Miami’s discipline gave away field position. An initial attack from the lineout was held up but NOLA were on advantage. Instead of a set piece they opted for a tap play, and soon after Malcolm May barged over from in close to make it 15-12 to the home side.

Shortly before halftime the Sharks turned down three points in favor of a shot at a try. Their gamble paid off as Reinaldo Piussi smashed his way in a yard out. The tighthead prop then used his might in the scrum to earn Videla a shot at the posts and the Chilean made no mistake to leave it 22-15 for the visitors with 40 minutes in the books.

OJ Noa was binned for an off-the-ball hit on Ardao early in the second half. Again it was the scrum that set the platform giving front-football for Grigg to blast straight through the midfield for a brace. A high ball from Botha bounced off a teammate straight into the hands of Marcos Young, and the Sharks winger sprinted clear from 50 meters to touch down under the posts and make it a three-score game.

Once back at full strength the Gold caught the visitors off-guard with a short side attack at a lineout. Noa burst free and Jonah Mau’u was there in support for the finish. From the restart Miami nearly had an instant reply only for Nick Feakes to force Hand into touch just ahead of the corner flag.

Miami were working their way towards a try through their maul but it was flagged for obstruction. Not long after cynical play at the breakdown earned a yellow card for Alec McDonnell. Young was the man summoned to make way for a replacement prop at the scrum, and a miss-out pass from Luke Campbell exploited the space where the Sharks winger would have been. Taniela Filimone dove into the corner and Rodney Iona’s conversion close the gap to nine points.

That would be as close as NOLA would get. A scrappy saw Grigg sent to the bin for taking out Filimone in the air, and Jarred Adams joining him for collapsing a maul. Feakes was then shown red for allegedly throwing a punch in a tackle. Videla landed two penalty kicks amidst the chaos with the second bringing a close to proceedings.

Both teams are back in action next Saturday. The Gold are on the road for a clash with Anthem Carolina at Truist Point, while the Sharks head home to Fort Lauderdale to host the Dallas Jackals.

SCORING

NOLA 27
Tries (4) – R. Botha (18′), M. May (25′), J. Mau’u (56′), T. Filimone (69′)
Cons (2) – R. Botha 1/2 (26′), R. Iona 1/2 (70′)
Pens (1) – R. Botha 1/1 (2′)
YC (2) – O. Noa (44′), J. Adams (78′)
RC (1) – N. Feakes (80′)

MIAMI 42
Tries (5) – M. Hand (7′), N. Grigg 2 (15′, 46′), R. Piussi (30′), M. Young (49′)
Cons (4) – S. Videla 3/4 (8′, 31′, 47′), No kick (49′)
Pens (3) – S. Videla 3/4 (40′, 79′, 80’+1′)
YC (2) – A. McDonnell (68′), N. Grigg (76′)

LINEUPS

NOLA GOLD
1 Matt Harmon (17 Jarred Adams 53′), 2 Augusto Böhme (16 Pat O’Toole 44′), 3 Sam Klimkowski (18 Trent Rogers HT), 4 Malcolm May (19 Callum Botchar 53′), 5 William Waguespack (20 Fintan Coleman 64′), 6 Moni Tonga’uiha (capt.) (21 Osaiasi Tonga’uiha 53′), 7 Jonah Mau’u, 8 OJ Noa, 9 Luke Campbell, 10 Reece Botha (23 Nick Feakes 50′), 11 Taniela Filimone, 12 Rodney Iona, 13 JP du Plessis, 14 Ross Depperschmidt, 15 Dougie Fife

Not used: 22 Sebastiano Villani

MIAMI SHARKS
1 Jonas Petrakopoulos (17 Alec McDonnell 64′), 2 Sean McNulty (16 Alex Glover 77′), 3 Reinaldo Piussi (18 Tevita Sole 64′), 4 Rick Rose (22 Josh McAdam 70′), 5 Stan van den Hoven, 6 Roelof Smit (19 Michael Etete 64′), 7 Benjamín Bonasso, 8 Manuel Ardao (capt.) (20 Chase Schor-Haskin 79′), 9 Tomás Inciarte, 10 Santiago Videla, 11 Michael Hand, 12 Nick Grigg, 13 Guiseppe du Toit, 14 Marcos Young (1 Jonas Petrakopoulos 68′-78′), 15 Felipe Etcheverry

Not used: 21 Damian Morley, 23 Avery Oitomen

MATCH INFO

Date: Saturday, April 20
Venue: The Gold Mine, Metairie
Kickoff: 15:00 local
Weather: cloudy, 85°F (29°C), wind SE 9-13mph (14-21km/h)

OFFICIALS

Referee: Kat Roche (USA)
Assistants: Federico Anselmi (Argentina) & Allen Alongi (USA)
TMO: Austin Reed (USA)

HIGHLIGHTS