Knysna misses win by one single point
Knysna narrowly misses chance to progress to finals as Central Karoo boots them out of municipal league
Knysna has been knocked out of the SWD Municipal Rugby Challenge (MRC), having fallen to Central Karoo in the final group-stage match in the shield division at Grassy Park in Smutsville on Saturday 2 November.
Going into the do-or-die clash, Knysna had four scenarios in which they could qualify for the playoffs of the MRC, all of which were a slim chance, but a chance nonetheless. Knysna would have a tough challenge lying in wait at Grassy Park, as they were faced with a resilient Central Karoo side that was on top of the table having lost only one of their five games going into the clash.
The result of the other clash in the shield division where Bitou and Kannaland locked horns would be a major factor in the outcome of who could progress, as a loss by Bitou would work greatly in Knysna's favour. Both kicked off at the same time however, so Knysna would simply have to play their best rugby with the supporters at Grassy Park cheering them on, while hoping that a favourable result would come out of Calitzdorp at the end of the 80 minutes.
With pure, unbridled Springbok pride coursing through the veins of most of the Knysna and Central Karoo players, proceedings kicked off at 15:00 to a roar of support from the crowds. Central Karoo would dominate the first half, with their backline proving to be too much for Knysna, whose forwards dominated at scrum time.
The game went into halftime at 20-10 to the away side, with Knysna needing to do some serious regrouping in the second half if they were to be within a chance of progressing. The home side fought back hard, closing the 10-point gap by scoring three tries to take the lead, needing just one more try while having to shut Central Karoo out to secure progression regardless of the result in Calitzdorp.
Central Karoo refused to go down without a fight however, and rallied back to secure a nailbiting 30-29 win – as well as their place in the MRC Shield Division 2019 playoff. Knysna eighth man Michael Kapp would bag another two tries in a man-of-the-match performance, which saw him finish as the division's top try-scorer with eight tries in this campaign.