Gardens stronger in cup qualifier

GARDENS edged rivals Progress 23-17 in an intense EPRU Grand Challenge Gold Cup qualifier match at the Wolfson Stadium yesterday.

Prior to yesterday’s match, the two Uitenhage sides had met four times, with Gardens winning three of the meetings.

They were favourites going into the encounter and showed eagerness to get on the scoreboard from the start.

They drew first blood with a brilliant try from flanker Margo Felix that saw his side amped with more confidence to run the ball at their opponents.

Progress hit back with a try from winger Denver Jones which seemed to kick their Uitenhage rivals back into action.

The Gardens players’ experience came in handy at the breakdowns as they kept cool heads when attacking.

Their efforts were soon rewarded with another try from speedy winger Duwayne Prince.

Gardens’ Mncedisi Dlwengu showed his brilliance once again and scored a beautiful try on the brink of half time. Gardens led 20-12 at the break. Things got off to a strong start in the second half with both teams defending brilliantly.

Gardens were kept at bay by the Progress defence and only managed to score a penalty, which Relton Lewis slotted easily to take the game even further away from their opponents. But, despite being the smaller pack of the two sides, Progress held their own and pressed on with their attack.

They were eventually rewarded with a last-minute try from winger Raymond Darries but it was a little too late to enhance their chances of qualifying for the Gold Cup competition.

The other Grand Challenge results were: Trying Stars 26 Windvogel 24 Harlequins 52 Spring Rose 7 Patensie 21 Kruisfontein 30 Star of Hope 29 Missionvale 17 Despatch 36 Surburbans 17 NMU 25 Jeffreys Bay 15 African Bombers 16 Park 27