KEARSNEY COLLEGE 33-13 HOERSKOOL TRANSVALIA
Kearsney College’s 1st XV was welcomed with a roar when they took to Stott Field for a Saturday afternoon KERF showdown with Hoërskool Transvalia. The lure of the home team had led to a healthy influx of spectators.
Both sides won on Thursday – Kearsney by 43-14 over Rustenburg and Transvalia by 26-5 over Peterhouse – so both were eager to keep their clean records intact.
Transvalia made most of the early running, controlling possession and setting up their attacks with good shape. Scrumhalf Johan Smit established a tidy tempo, and flyhalf Jaydee Maree distributed the ball smoothly.
On a couple of occasions, shoestring tackles kept ‘Valia from breaking through. Kearsney stood firm, but when they conceded a penalty in front of the uprights, seven metres out, Maree knocked over the easy kick to give his side the lead.
After conceding, Kearsney, at last, was able to play some rugby in the Transvalia half. That brought them a reward midway through the half when a cross-kick from Thomas Aylward was fielded by Luke Grobbelaar. The One-Stripe’s right wing caught the eye in their opening win, and he was again superb, beating a tackler by cutting inside before shaking off the attentions of a second tackler to go over for a try.
Transvalia sucked up the setback and were soon testing Kearsney’s defensive line again, but the home side was able to turn over possession with some rugged defence.
Then, a clever pass from Daniel Miskey evaded a defender trying to come between him and Thomas Aylward. The outside centre was in the clear and, with options inside and outside, he went wide to Lwazi Mbebe, who finished. Miskey added the conversion to put Kearsney 12-3 up.
Transvalia was giving Kearsney a good game, but as they had done against Rustenburg, the One-Stripe showed a deadly cutting edge on the counterattack.
That was to the fore once more when their captain and 8th-man Nhlanhla Ndlovu raced clear to dot down beneath the poles. Miskey’s easy conversion increased the hosts’ lead to 16 points.
Then, with just over five minutes to go to halftime, Mbebi set up Miskey for a five-pointer. That made it 24-3, and the flyhalf’s accurate conversion kick added two more points to the total.
The ambition and creativity displayed by coach Grant Bashford’s charges were thrilling. Their instincts on the counterattack, finding the chinks in Transvalia’s armour and making the right passes, were impressive.
In the sixth minute of the second half, Kearsney captain Nhlanhla Ndlovu made it a brace, powering over from close range, and Miskey’s conversion kick split the uprights to extend the One-Stripe’s lead to 33-3.
Ndlovu, off the back of the scrum, Mbebe, at fullback, and Miskey, at flyhalf, pulled the strings with conviction to telling effect.
With 20 minutes to go, a sweet step by Transvalia flyhalf Jaydee Maree created space and gave Dave Mthizi a clear run into the left-hand corner, but he unfortunately spilt the ball as he crossed the whitewash.
Down by plenty, all credit to Transvalia, they were unbowed and spent considerable time pushing Kearsney backwards in the home side’s 22. Kearsney’s defence was tigerish, but Anro van Biljon cracked it at last, wide on the left.
With time winding down, Kearsney was able to utilise their substitutes, and ‘Valia continued to take the attack to the maroon-clad home team.
Kearsney threatened a late try, but Transvalia had the final say, with 8th-man Matthew van Niekerk driving over for a try to make the final score 33-13 in favour of the hosts. They won comfortably, but Transvalia will take heart from their efforts in the second half, which they edged 10-7.
Scores
Kearsney 33 (26) Tries: Nhlanhla Ndlovu (2), Luke Grobbelaar, Lwazi Mbebe, Daniel Miskey. Conversions: Daniel Miskey (4)
Transvalia 13 (3) Try: Anro van Biljon, Matthew van Niekerk. Penalty: Jaydee Maree
PHOTOGRAPHER: GABRIELLE SWANEPOEL
