GLENWOOD HIGH 14-12 HOERSKOOL DR EG JANSEN
The early morning mist had vanished when Glenwood High and Dr EG Jansen took to Stott Field in Monday’s second game at KERF. Slippery conditions made ball handling difficult, but the cool weather aided the players’ energy levels.
In only the second minute, Jansies were struck a hard blow when they lost their fullback Renaldo October for the game, after he made a dangerous tip tackle.
Glenwood fullback Rosco Williams, meanwhile, drew oohs and aahs by sidestepping a player in a telephone box, but unforced errors hampered the flow of the game in the early going.
The cleanest points’ scoring opportunity in the first quarter of the contest was engineered by the Green Machine’s flyhalf Jonah Chaita, who made a tidy break down the left flank, chipped over the fullback and won the race to the ball but knocked on as it sat up invitingly for him, with the try line beckoning 22 metres away. Soon, though, Glenwood was over for the first points of the contest, with a gap opening up for no. 8 Makhaya Mbaile after he sold a dummy, and he was in for a try.
Vincenzo Loutz converted to make it 7-0.
The Durban side’s attack sharpened as they settled into the contest, but they kept missing their final passes. In the last minute of the first half, though, a bruising break by hooker Tyler Leon and a sniping effort from scrumhalf Vincenzo Loutz created space, and 8th-man Makhaya Mbaile provided the finish again. Loutz popped over the conversion kick to give his side a 14-0 lead at the break.
Leon had the crowd on its feet with a thundering run from the second half kick-off, but EG Jansen struck first, driving Christopher van Rooyen over after four minutes.
Eight minutes in, behind controlled driving from his fellow forwards, EG Jansen tighthead prop Elshaan Duminy powered his way over, with AJ Oeschiger nailing the easy conversion kick. Only two points separated the sides.
Stung by those blows, Glenwood worked their way into the EG Jansen half where Vincenzo Loutz had a chance to put the Durban boys five points clear, but his kick at goal missed the mark.
Good cohesive work by Jansies’ pack took them back into the Green Machine’s territory as the combatants wrestled for control. Glenwood’s leaky defence from earlier in the half had, however, been repaired, and they held on for a tight 14-12 victory.
Scores:
Glenwood 14 – Tries: Makhaya Mbaile (2). Conversions: Vincenzo Loutz (2)
EG Jansen 12 – Tries: Christopher van Rooyen, Elshaan Duminy. Conversions: AJ Oeschiger
