Warriors too strong for SaberCats

The Utah Warriors dealt a hammer blow to the Semi Final chances of the Houston SaberCats as they took a 36-30 win over their hosts at Dyer Stadium on Saturday. Both teams struggled with continuity in the Texas heat with shorts bursts of excitement surrounded by large periods of inactivity.

As they did against the Gold, the SaberCats came out with all guns blazing and Sam Windsor set over the opening points with less than two minutes on the clock. Osea Kolinisau started and finished a brilliant team try, scorching past Utah defenders before offloading and following up to take a return pass from Josua Vici to score under the posts.

Houston’s ability to stay on task for a full 80 minutes had been questioned before the match and they seemed to let up after the Kolinisau try. It was Utah who scored next with two tries in quick succession. The first saw big lock Matt Jensen stretching his legs in a 20-odd meter gallop, the second going to Lance Williams after a bruising run from Paul Lasike. Both were converted by Kurt Morath.

The SaberCats picked up a second try to end the frantic opening with Vici himself finishing in style. Windsor and Morath exchanged penalties as the match slogged its way to the break to make it a three-point home lead to open the second half.