Pearson win with clean-sweep against Cape rugby rivals

PEARSON enjoyed another exceptional day of rugby against Parel Vallei from Somerset West on Saturday, winning all seven matches.

The programme was topped by a 29-10 win for the first team in front of a capacity crowd.

Pearson opened the scoring through a fine individual try by centre Raeez Harrison, which was converted by flyhalf Rodwill Baadjies.

The home side continued to apply the pressure, which ended in Brenden Basson diving over under the poles after an excellent break by outside centre Jode Fourie. Baadjies added the conversion.

Despite a lack of possession, Parel Vallei opened their scoring with a converted try, followed by a penalty, to close the gap to 14-10 after 20 minutes.

This seemed to spur the home side on who hit back through a try by wing Keegan van Dyk to make it 19-10 at the break.

The second half was a much tighter affair, with both teams enjoying periods of solid defence.

Shortly after the break, Baadjies slotted a superb 55m penalty to extend Pearson’s lead to 22-10.

In the latter part of the match, Parel Vallei enjoyed the territorial advantage, mounting numerous attacks.

After absorbing this pressure, a vital turnover from a ruck saw Pearson run from their own tryline for Aya Khoza to score under the poles.

Baadjies converted to complete the scoring.

Hockey

IN front of a large crowd, the Pearson boys’ team scored an impressive 6-1 win over their Western Cape rivals.

Parel Vallei were first on the scoreboard through a well-executed penalty corner, but Pearson equalised just before half time when Jacques Potgieter converted a well-executed reverse stick shot.

In the second half, Pearson capitalised on their superior possession.

After scoring from a penalty corner, they piled on the pressure with two more goals in quick succession.

With 10 minutes to go, Jason Saptoe registered his first goal for the first team, and minutes from full time, Matthew Lewis, who celebrated his 50th first team cap, completed the scoring.

Netball

THE first visit of Parel Vallei netball to Pearson proved to be a successful outing for the home higher league teams, but less so for the lower league sides.

Last year, only five Pearson teams travelled to Somerset West, winning all their matches. This year, Parel Vallei brought 22 teams and the honours were evenly shared.

Pearson were deserved victors in the U14A, U16A and U18 A and B team matches.

The Pearson U18A team also produced a fine display to win 33-18.

After trailing 10-8 following the first quarter, Pearson dominated the rest of the match.

Demi de Jager and Nina van Niekerk produced fine performances up front and Nadine Burley had her best outing of the season.

However, Pearson’s superior defensive effort was the major difference between the two teams, with Chante Smith and Kristen Basson outstanding.