Arrows Fall to Ironworkers in New York

News Feb-27-2023

Arrows Fall to Ironworkers in New York

An injury-depleted Arrows side found itself on the losing end of a 39-3 scoreline against the New York Ironworkers on Sunday afternoon.

20-year-old Kobe Faust ensured the visiting Arrows were on the scoresheet with a second-half penalty goal, but the hosts’ comprehensive performance stifled Toronto’s advances at Memorial Field.

New York opened the scoring in the eighth minute off a lineout deep in Toronto territory, with hooker Dylan Fawsitt barging across off the back of a rolling maul.

Minutes later, the match would enter a lengthy pause; off the heels of a high New York clearance kick, Arrows backs Cole Davis and Ciaran Breen collided in mid-air as they both sought to bring down the ball. Breen was able to remain in the game, but after several minutes of treatment from club and on-site medical staff, Davis was safely removed from the match on a stretcher.

Davis, who was replaced by Avery Oitomen, was taken to a local hospital for further assessment and treatment, and was discharged later in the evening.

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The home side kept up the pressure following the stoppage in play, and were rewarded with a near-copy of their first tally, this time with flanker Brendon O’Connor crossing over.

Ironworkers goalkicker Sam Windsor missed his first two attempts off the tee, but would make good on his third as he closed out the first half with a penalty goal seconds after the referee had sent Travis Larsen to the sin bin.

New York wasted little time taking advantage of its numerical superiority to start the second frame, with captain Nate Brakeley slicing through Toronto’s defensive line for a converted try less than a minute after the restart.

Faust scored the Arrows’ first points with a 44th-minute penalty kick, becoming just the seventh player in franchise history to score off the tee in MLR play.

The Ironworkers responded through substitute Kaleb Geiger, who scored from a driving maul in the 54th minute.

New York looked certain to have scored again just after the hour-mark when Kara Pryor raced clear, but Oitomen – making his first appearance for the club since the 2019 season – sprinted 60 metres to catch up with the No. 8 and make the try-saving tackle before an intrepid Breen stole the ball at the breakdown.

Centre Fa’asiu Fuatai added another Ironworkers try off an attack from a lineout, and minutes after that, New York had their sixth tally, with Eamonn Matthews spotting a gap at the breakdown to dive across at the 68-minute mark.

A strong run from second-half substitute Ramon Ayarza – the Chilean ultimately led the team in carries, metres, defenders beaten, and offloads in his Arrows debut – put Toronto on the front foot late in the match, but replacement loose forward Brad Tucker knocked the ball out of the hands of Faust as the winger dove for the corner, denying the Arrows a first try ahead of the match coming to a close.

Six players made their season debuts for the Arrows in the Eastern Conference clash; Mitch Eadie – who led the team with 29 breakdown arrivals – and Faust both started, and were joined by Ayarza, Nik Hildebrand, Oitomen, and James O’Neill off the bench.

Seven Arrows were unavailable for the match due to injury.

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Toronto (0-2; 1 point) enters its first of two bye weeks before travelling to Chicago to face the league newcomers on Saturday, March 11.

Toronto Arrows Stat Leaders:

Ball Carries: Ramon Ayarza – 12
Carry Metres: Ramon Ayarza – 81
Defenders Beaten: Ramon Ayarza – 4
Tackles Made: Fabian Goodall – 12
Offloads: Ramon Ayarza – 3
Attacking Breakdown Arrivals: Mitch Eadie – 23
Defending Breakdown Arrivals: Lucas Rumball – 7

New York Ironworkers Stat Leaders:

Ball Carries: Andrew Coe – 14
Carry Metres: Andrew Coe – 156
Defenders Beaten: Andrew Coe, Jack Heighton – 5
Tackles Made: Nate Brakeley – 14
Offloads: Andrew Coe – 2
Attacking Breakdown Arrivals: Nate Brakeley – 22
Defending Breakdown Arrivals: Hamish Dalzell – 8

Toronto Arrows Score Report:

Penalty Goals: Kobe Faust (44′)

New York Ironworkers Score Report:

Tries: Dylan Fawsitt 2 (8′, 28′), Nate Brakeley (41′), Kaleb Geiger (54′), Fa’asiu Fuatai (64′), Eamonn Matthews (68′)
Conversions: Sam Windsor 3 (42′, 55′, 65′)
Penalty Goals: Sam Windsor (39′)