Utah Leads Until Final Minutes

(Toronto, Canada) – It looked as if the Utah Warriors were going to upset 3rd-place Toronto Arrows, leading the majority of the match but the Arrows defense thwarted 2 Warriors try drives and scored with 4 minutes remaining to prevent the Utah upset. The Warriors now drop to (2-10-1) and are in 7th place in the league, while Toronto moves to 9-5 on the season and 3rd in league standings.

The Warriors struck first with a try run by Arthur Bergo at the 2:23 mark followed by a Tim O’Malley conversion. The Warriors defense was resilient until the Arrows finally scored in the 22′ minute. In the 28′ minute, Jeremy Misailegalu, scored off an Arrows turnover and bumped the lead to 12-7. Tim O’Malley’s conversion attempt was thrown off direction by the wet and windy conditions, however O’Malley put more points on the board just 3 minutes later with a penalty kick, taking the Utah lead to 15-12.

The Arrows answered at the 39:23 mark with an offensive stand in the try zone that lasted several minutes. Utah went into halftime with a 15-14 lead. The Warriors dominated the collision area and the defensive lines showed marked improvements. In the previous meeting with the Arrows in March, the Warriors were down by 19 points within the first 20 minutes, but managed to get within 24-19 at halftime.

The second half started off strong with Tim O’Malley scoring a penally kick in the 44′ minute. However, the Arrows took the lead in the 55′ minute with a hard earned try, taking the score to 21-18. The Warriors stormed back keeping the ball in the try zone for nearly 4 minutes before a Tim O’Malley penalty kick tied the score 21-21. In the 76′ minute the Arrows scored off a break-away run and went up 28-21 with the conversion. This would prove to be the go-ahead score.

The Warriors next match is Saturday, May 18th against the San Diego Legion at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman, Utah. The match starts at 7:00 PM MST and can be seen locally on KMYU.

Photo Credit: David Wayne

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