Hounds Fall to Sabercats in Week 7 Action

CHICAGO, I.L.- The Chicago Hounds fell to 1-5 after a 38-21 defeat to the Houston Sabercats on Sunday afternoon.

The Sabercats came out of the gates hot with 19 unanswered points in the first half. The first try was scored by lock CC Mahoni, who was consistently disrupting the Hounds’ lineout operations as well. Flyhalf Davy Coetzer missed the conversion and it was 5-0 Houston. The score line stayed the same leading into the water break.

The next 20 minutes were all Sabercats. Houston pulled off a nifty set-piece move off of a midfield scrum that resulted in a linebreak. Cats’ outside center Dom Akina showed his athleticism finishing off a try and the conversion was good, making it 12-0 after 29 minutes.

Drew Wild widened the gap in the 36^th minute. After being taken down by two Hounds defenders, he wasn’t held and he sprouted back up to run in the third Houston try of the afternoon. Coetzer was good on the conversion and it brought the scoreline to 19-0 heading into halftime.

Early in the second half, Mason Koch came onto the field for an injured Lindsey Stevens. After a successful Chicago lineout, flyhalf Chris Mattina found wing Mark O’Keeffe on an inside ball that resulted in a line break and the Hounds were deep in Houston territory. Phase after phase and Mattina got inches toward the try line. Mason Koch, who just came on, found his way in for the first Chicago score of the day. Mattina’s conversion was successful and it was 19-7 after 50 minutes of play.

Houston rebounded moments later with a try of their own after a Chicago penalty. The Sabercats worked a maul off of their lineout just five meters out and were able to power over for their fourth try of the day. Coetzer’s conversion attempt was no good and it was 24-7.

The Hounds’ discipline cost them again in the 63^rd minute. Houston opted for a scrum after a Chicago penalty and after a few phases went in for their fifth try of the day. The conversion was good and it was 31-7 right as the second-half water break hit.

O’Keeffe made magic happen again off of a Chicago attack scrum. The ball was sent wide to the right wing and he ran inside of a defender before making a linebreak. He shrugged off multiple tackle attempts and scored the second Chicago try of the day, making it 31-14 after 66 minutes. It was O’Keeffe’s second try of the season in his 51^st MLR appearance.

Houston scored their sixth try of the day on an errant Chicago pass deep in their own end. Flyhalf Davy Coetzer scooped up the loose ball and ran in for a Sabercats’ score. He converted his own try and made it 38-14 in the 73^rd minute.

The Hounds drew last blood with a try in the 80^th minute via scrumhalf Sean Yacoubian. The conversion attempt was good by Mattina, his third of the day, and the final score was 38-21.