http://www.americanrugbynews.com/artman/publish/rugby_league/Bulls_bounce_back.shtml
Bulls Bounce Back
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Rugby League
By Brian Lowe
Jul 12, 2009 - 7:58:02 AM
(Jen Bentley photo)
The Aston DSC Bulls have posted their first win of the season, while Jacksonville is now the only unbeaten team in the American National Rugby League following Round 5 action.
Other winners included the New York Knights and Fairfax Eagles.
The Bulls, who hadn’t won a game in the first four rounds, bounced back to winning form by mounting a point scoring avalanche in downing the Connecticut Wildcats 82-10.
The result kept the Wildcats winless in 2009.
In north Florida, the Jacksonville Axemen remained undefeated with a 30-10 victory over the visiting Philadelphia Fight.
The Fight had gone into the match with a perfect record and have a chance to get back in the winners’ circle next Wednesday night when they host the Bulls in a make-up game.
In New York City, the home town Knights welcomed the Boston 13s and in a very entertaining game the Knights emerged victorious 48-24.
The 13s, who are new to the AMNRL this year, showed that they are a significant force. Brent Gill (2), George Aroyan and Setefano Talavave all got on the board for Boston. Gill also was perfect on the day with his boot converting all four tries.
Jon Mixon was named the Player’s Player of the game. The Knights led 26-6 at the half, however, four tries was enough to earn the 13s a bonus point.
And in the nation’s capital, the Washington DC Slayers hosted the Fairfax Eagles in what turned out to be the closest match of the round with the Eagles edging their hosts 20-18.
The Slayers struck first with a converted the try, but a string of penalties after that enabled the Eagles to mount a comeback.
Fairfax scored two tries, one of which was converted, leading to 10-6 halftime scoreline in favor of the Eagles.
The third quarter was all the Eagles as they put in two more tries to extend their lead to 20-6 as the game went into the final stanza.
The Slayers roared back in the final quarter and began to complete their sets which led to two converted tries, one of which was scored by Andy Hosier, to close the gap to 20-18.
Despite showing a great deal of heart and withstanding two goal-line stands, the Slayers fell short.
“The Slayers were inconsistent on defense and committed 14 penalties in the second half alone,” Washington’s Billy Weeks told ARN. “We'll have to do better than that if we want to win in Fairfax next weekend.”
The Bucks County Sharks played the Northern Raiders in another match* (no score reported), while the New Haven Warriors had a bye.
Standings (unofficial):
Jacksonville Axemen (6-0) 30pts
New York Knights (4-1) 20pts
New Haven Warriors (3-1) 16pts
Philadelphia Fight (3-1) 15pts
Fairfax Eagles (3-2) 15pts
Boston 13s (2-3) 11pts
Bucks County Sharks (1-2) 10pts
Aston DSC Bulls (1-4) 9pts
Washington DC Slayers (0-5) 2pts
Connecticut Wildcats (0-3) 0pts
Northern Raiders (0-4) 0pts
