NOT GOOD ENOUGH:
Davids feeling heat after loss
Kings coach fumes after his charges fail to capitalise against a 13-men side in dying minutes
SOUTHERN Kings head coach Deon Davids was left frustrated after his team failed to hammer home their advantage after the Cheetahs were reduced to 13 man in the final 10 minutes of a PRO14 clash on Saturday.
Despite having two men yellow carded by referee Stuart Berry, the Cheetahs managed to score two late tries to clinch a 45-21 win at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.
When Charles Marais and Junior Pokomela were given their marching orders, the Cheetahs led 31-14, and the Kings must have harboured hopes of a late comeback.
But the yellow cards inspired the Cheetahs who finished strongly with tries from the industrious Nico Lee and Jacques du Toit in front of 6 711 fans.
Lee’s 73rd minute try saw the centre register a matchwinning hat-trick as the Cheetahs kept their PRO14 playoff berth hopes alive.
The battling Kings are still winless after 12 outings, and will face the Cheetahs again in Bloemfontein on Saturday in the second leg of the South African derby.
“It was disappointing to concede those two late tries and sometimes it comes down to poor decision making,” Davids said.
“I think it was unforgivable for us not to hang onto the ball and to just kick it away. At the end of the day that cost us. If we had been able to maintain that momentum we would have been able to put the opposition under pressure.
“That was a crucial moment for us in the game. With 10 minutes left on the clock we had good momentum, but it was our decision making that let us down.
“I spoke about that specifically at halftime. The fact that we tend, in the outside channels in our own half, to kick the ball away. That is something we need to sort out.
“There is a place for front foot kicking in the game. But it depends on where you kick it and whether there is space and if it gives your team a chance to register points and put the opposition under pressure.
“I think the Cheetahs did that much better than we did and they pegged us back in our own half. I felt that throughout the game, our management of the play was just not good enough.”
The Kings had the wind knocked out of their sails within a minute of the start of the second half when the menacing Lee raced away from the Kings defence for his second try.
Prior to the two late yellow cards, the Cheetahs were down to 14 men in the 51st minute when lock Justin Basson was sent to the sin bin.
With the Cheetahs a man, down the Kings struck immediately with loose forward Eital Bredenkamp wrestling his way over the line.
After Oliver Zono converted, the Cheetahs enjoyed a 3114 lead.
The Cheetahs were into their stride quickly and they were over for their first try after five minutes when fullback Clayton Bommetjies cut his way through the Kings defence.
However, the Kings hit back immediately with speedster Yaw Penxe showing the Cheetahs defence a clean pair of heels to bring the crowd alive with a sparkling try.
Fred Zeilinga then struck a penalty after 12 minutes to leave the Cheetahs 10-7 ahead after a fast and furious start to the game.
With the Cheetahs gaining momentum, they increased their lead to 15-7 when powerful centre Lee crashed over for his team’s second try.
The visitors were playing at a high tempo and they probed the Kings’ defence with a series of relentless attacking forays which kept the Kings stuck on the back foot.
The constant pressure paid off when Cheetahs scrumhalf Shaun Venter muscled his way through the Kings defence for his team’s third try.