Warriors drop close match to Houston SaberCats, 29-27
(Houston, Texas) – The Houston Saber Cats defeated the Utah Warriors tonight by a score of 29-27 in a match that was marred by Utah penalties and a stout Saber Cat defense.
The Saber Cats started fast scoring 17 unanswered points. Angus McClellan scored a try for the Warriors in the 20’ followed by a Tim O’Malley conversion. O’Malley delivered a penalty kick in the 26’ minute to push the score to 17-10. Gannon Moore scored in the 39’ and with the conversion the Warriors went into halftime down just 20-17.
Tim O’Malley tied the match 20-20 in the 49’ minute with a penalty kick, but the Saber Cats returned the penalty kick just two minutes later to re-take the lead 23-20. The Saber Cats would score two more penalty kicks to move ahead 29-20. The Warriors drove the pitch for a try by Lance Williams in the 77’ minute and with the conversion took the score to 29-26. The remaining three minutes were not enough for the Warriors to mount a comeback.
The Warriors will pick up one point on the table for a loss under four points. The Warriors move to 1-4-1 on the season and have eight total points. The Saber Cats move to 2-5 with ten total points.
The next match for the Warriors will be at home on Saturday, March 30th at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman, Utah starting at 2:00 pm MST.
Tickets for the Utah Warriors are available at www.warriorsrugby.com and the match can be viewed on KMYU, ESPN+, and Facebook Watch.
MATCH BREAKDOWN
| Houston Saber Cats | Stats | Utah Warriors |
| 2 | Tries | 3 |
| 2 | Conversions | 3 |
| 5 | Penalty Goals | 2 |
| 0/0 | Drop Goals | 0/0 |
| 9 | Active Minutes | 9 |
| 42% | Possession (%) | 58% |
| 54% | Territory (%) | 46% |
| 11 | Lineouts Won | 13 |
| 1 | Lineouts Lost | 2 |
| 6 | Scrums Won | 2 |
| 0 | Scrums Lost | 1 |
| 0 | Tackles Made | 0 |
| 0 | Tackles Missed | 0 |
| 0 | Total Passes | 0 |
| 0 | Runs (m) | 0 |
| 0 | Line Breaks | 0 |
| 9 | Penalties Conceded | 10 |
| 5 | Knock On | 5 |
| 0 | Turnover Conceded | 0 |
| 0 | Yellow Card | 0 |
| 0 | Red Card | 0 |
UTAH WARRIORS 2019 SCHEDULE
Friday, February 1st at Austin (TX) Elite W, 17-9
Sunday, February 17th at San Diego Legion L, 21-10
Saturday, February 23rd vs. Glendale Raptors D, 26-26
Saturday, March 2nd vs. New Orleans Gold L, 21-19
Friday, March 8th vs. New York United L, 40-14
Saturday, March 23rd at Houston Sabercats L, 29-26
Saturday, March 30th vs. Ontario (Canada) Arrows 2:00 pm MST
Friday, April 5th vs. Seattle Seawolves 7:00 pm MST
Saturday, April 13th at New Orleans Gold 1:30 pm MST
*Saturday, April 20th at Rugby United New York 5:30 pm MST
*Saturday, April 27th vs. Austin Elite 6:00 pm MST
Saturday, May 4th at Glendale (Co) Raptors 7:00 pm MST
Sunday, May 12th at Toronto (Canada) Arrows 12:00 pm MST
Saturday, May 18th vs. San Diego Legion 2:00 pm MST
Sunday, May 26th at Seattle Seawolves 6:00 pm MST
*Saturday, June 1st vs. Houston Sabercats 6:00 pm MST
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