Lions triumph against Rangers
Action-packed fun day for Makhanda
An action-packed final between Goldrush Ghosttown Lions and Goldrush-Tantyi Rangers saw the Lions win by a hard-fought 5-0.
Even persistent rain couldn’t stop nine rugby teams, nine netball teams and their hundreds of supporters from lining the Oval in Makhanda for the ninth edition of the Goldrush Fabian Juries Community Fun Day.
Lining up for the first rugby pool matches as early as 8am were Vergenoeg Eagles, Tantyi Rangers, Vukani Stallions, Hoggenoeg White Bulls, Joza Kings, Currie Park Rebels, Fingo Villagers, Cellotape Wildcats and Ghost Town Lions.
Teams with the same names (except Joza Queens, not Joza Kings) filled the netball courts for a highly competitive day’s play.
Based on the performance in the pool phase, teams were seeded and the top eight contested the quarterfinals.
The semifinals was always going to make for interesting viewing. This was again the case when Currie Park Rebels faced Ghost Town Lions.
At the end of normal time, the teams were deadlocked at 0-0. Extra time of 5 minutes per half was played, but that was also not sufficient to produce a winner as the game ended 0-0. The winner of the tie had to be decided by the toss of a coin, with the Rebels skipper having the privilege to make the call as the Lions skipper spun the coin. The coin fell in favour of the Ghost Town Lions, who proceeded to the final to defend their crown.
The second semifinal saw Tantyi Rangers giving it their all against Cellotape Wildcats. Tantyi Rangers went through to the final.
The final was a close contest. Towards the end of the first half, Ghost Town Lions attacked the Rangers defence, and after several driving mauls from lineout play, lock Ivan Agnew went over for the try to make it 5-0.
The second half saw Ghost Town Lions having to ward off waves of attacks from the Tantyi Rangers players. Their scrambling defence ensured they kept their lead intact.
The event is named after former Cheetahs and Blitzboks player Fabian Juries, who attended Mary Waters Secondary and Kingswood College in Makhanda before moving on to a highly successful national rugby career.
Juries has since 2017 been coaching at the Apollo Perelini Rugby Skills Academy in Dubai. The fun day and tournament is held annually at the Oval in Makhanda.