New Orleans, LA — NOLA Gold fell to the Chicago Hounds on Saturday, April 6th, at the Gold Mine. Despite a strong first half, the final score saw Chicago prevail, 38-21.

It was a tale of two halves in this one, but NOLA wishes that wasn’t the case. The GOLD opened the game in strong fashion, which is the team that NOLA fans had grown accustomed to seeing. However, this wouldn’t be maintained for the second half, when the Hounds made an exemplary scoring run.

William Waguespack, a local lad, opened the scoring for the GOLD in the 13th minute off the back of a well-executed set piece. A lineout deep in Chicago territory gave way to a powerful NOLA maul, which carried Waguespack into the tryzone for the game’s first scoring action. The Hounds responded quickly, though, with their own try in the 22nd minute after a defensive miscommunication.

The highlight of the game for the GOLD came at the end of the first half, when the speedy Ed Fidow capped off a remarkable field-length try. A three-man tandem of Fidow, Dougie Fife, and Luke Campell strung together a brilliant bit of counterattacking, free-flowing rugby, which sent the GOLD into halftime with both a lead and good deal of confidence.

Coming out of halftime, the Hounds had plans to spoil a golden day. The teams swapped tries in the first minutes of the second half, but then it was all Chicago the rest of the way. Everything went right for the hounds; their execution, physiciality, and gamplanning took a noticeable uptick, and the score reflected that development. With a final score of 38-21, this game was both a collapse from NOLA and commendable resurgence from Chicago. The two Eastern Conference playoff hopefuls will meet again for a late-season clash in Chicago.