No Surprises in Postseason Openers: North
There were no surprises in the first round of playoff action in the NORTH Conference with both the White Plains Wombats and New York Knights advancing to the next round, although in New York’s case it was by the skin of their teeth.
In Saturday’s early game, the Wombats overcame some early stutters to account for the Delaware Black Foxes 52-12, while in the late game the Knights edged the Boston 13s 24-22.
Early on in the Wombats contest with Delaware, the home team coughed up possession several times through unforced errors giving the Black Foxes opportunities to score, although they weren’t able to capitalize as often as they would have liked.
Delaware kept the score within reason through the first quarter trailing 12-10 at one point, but then White Plains started to hit their straps.
There were some familiar names among the White Plains try-scorers including Thomas Stevenson (2), CJ Cortalano (2), Jaime Abbas (2), George Reis, Brock Duncan and Pat Walpol.
Player/coach Cortalano says while it wasn’t necessarily a perfect performance, it was good enough to keep their season going.
“I think we left some things on the field that we could’ve done better, but at the end of the day we got the result we needed to advance. We have a lot of guys who’ve bought into what we’re doing which helps.”
The win means White Plains move on to play the #2 seed Philadelphia Fight in Philly in the next round of the postseason.
In the late game, the New York Knights were pushed all the way by the Boston 13s but managed to hold on for the narrow two-point victory.
While the final result may have been expected by some, Boston’s spirited display was a vast improvement from when these two teams met in the third week of the season. On that occasion New York put 50 points on the 13s.
According to Knights head coach Guillaume Cieutat the deserving team was Boston.
“They didn’t get the result on the scoreboard, but they certainly deserved more respect than we do. Our ball control and discipline were abysmal. Boston was outstanding in the courage and determination they displayed.”
Quenton Craddock scored the match-winning try with around two minutes left in the game.
Among New York’s other try-scorers were Henry Monsell, who got over the line in a well-executed set play, and Randy Porter.
The result will see another all-New York playoff game with the Knights facing off against the top seeded Brooklyn Kings in the conference semifinals with the winner moving on to the NORTH Conference championship game the week after.