Visitors leave it late to grab win
Union High better Westering in last five minutes of game
GRAAFF-REINET’S Union High scored a late 19-17 victory over Westering High in their first team schools rugby clash in Port Elizabeth on Saturday.
This was always going to be a tight affair if one looked at the results achieved by both teams in the weeks leading up to the game.
And so it proved to be as the momentum ebbed and flowed in a nail-biting tussle.
Westering began with the ascendancy, using home-ground advantage and a cross-wind to good effect.
But they struggled to turn domination into points and when the Union backs finally got into their stride after 15 minutes they looked very good on attack.
It was the visitors who opened the scoring with tries from captain and right wing Ross Stanley and fullback Matt Harpur, who also slotted a conversion to see Union lead 12-0 through 20 minutes.
But Westering bounced back with a try by centre Sisanda Matlali.
Flyhalf Baphelele Pango added the extra two points from the kicking tee to take the teams into half time.
After the break it was Westering who came out stronger, scoring two quick tries by captain and No 8 Siviwe Manyathi and fullback Sim Jekwa.
The Jekwa try was a good one, with Matlali hitting the gap and laying off to the fullback, who outsprinted the opposition to run more than 40m to touch down.
With Westering leading 17-12 for most of the second half, Union launched a number of attacks and were eventually successful when lock Terrance Siyaya danced over to tie the scoreline with five minutes remaining. Harpur held his nerve to slot the conversion and clinch the win.
Kingswood v Grens
KINGSWOOD registered a satisfying 35-10 win over Grens in a physical rugby encounter in East London on Saturday.
The home side showed good aggression and threw everything at Kingswood in the first half.
However, Kingswood absorbed the pressure and when they managed to get into the Grens 22m area, they were rewarded for their composure with a well-executed try under the posts to put them 7-0 ahead.
Grens came back strongly at the end of the first half and as time ran out they kicked a penalty to make it 7-3 at the break.
Both sides were eager to draw first blood in the second half and the first 10 minutes were tightly contested.
Kingswood eventually broke the stranglehold with a try after a line-break in midfield followed by slick handling in the backline extended their lead to 14-3.
Kingswood then played some of their best rugby of the season, attacking from everywhere to run in three more tries for a wellearned 35-10 win.
Kingswood’s points came from tries by Sandiso Charles, Anele Mokongolo and Tariq Mwinyi (3) and five conversions by Bradley Sterling.