MILNERTON HIGH 20-27 DR EG JANSEN
In game five of the Kearsney Easter Rugby Festival, Dr EG Jansen snatched an early lead against Milnerton High in a mid-afternoon clash on Stott Field.
Right-wing Werner Breydenbach broke through a would-be tackler on the tryline, to give Jansies a 5-0 advantage after some good ball retention, but Milnerton replied with a scything counterattack, which was finished by flyhalf Chadlin Sellidon, who wrong-footed the cover defence with a couple of sharp side-steps before crossing in the right-hand corner.
Up front, the advantage in the set scrums belonged to Dr EG Jansen. They had Millies in reverse, which led to some poor-quality ball, and that paid off when they turned over possession from a Milnerton scrum feed. Ewan Pretorius grabbed the ball and forced his way over the whitewash from close range to make it 10-5.
Then, with nine minutes to play in the first half, Jaco Engelbrecht intercepted a Milnerton pass and raced away from the scrambling defence to bag EG Jansen’s third five-pointer.
When play loosened up, that favoured Milnerton, and they made ground deep into EG Jansen’s half.
They spilled a chance to score with the tryline beckoning, but were instead awarded a penalty, which they ran. In an untidy spell, possession changed hands a couple of times. Eventually, though, it favoured the Capetonians, and flank Yenga Moangeli made Jansies pay with a try.
Just before halftime, Milnerton was over again, with tighthead prop Kyle Janse van Rensburg scoring in the right-hand corner. Sellidon’s conversion attempt hit the left-hand upright and bounced over the crossbar – the first successful kick of the game – to give Milnerton a 17-15 lead at the break.
EG Jansen took back the lead 10 minutes into the second stanza when, after a concerted period of pressure, inside centre Dian Botha ran onto a short pass and crashed over the try line, beneath the uprights. He banged over the conversion, too.
Credit to Milnerton, they sucked it up and took the game to Jansies. It almost brought them a spectacular length-of-the-field try, and they kept pressing, but EG Jansen stubbornly held on. When Millies coughed up possession, Jansies cleared out of the 22 with a searing counterattack from a set scrum.
Milnerton had a chance to cut the deficit to two points when they were awarded a penalty on the EG Jansen 10-metre line. Sellidon’s successful kick at posts was also the first successful penalty kick of the day, in the fifth game, and it made the score 22-20.
The final say belonged to EG Jansen, however, with Liam Hector stepping off his left foot to dot down in the left-hand corner to make it 27-20 with four minutes to play
Dian Botha could have made it a 10-point game, but his penalty kick, the last play of the game, was wide to the left of the uprights.
Scorers
Milnerton High 20 (17) – Tries: Chadlin Sellidon, Yenga Moangeli, Kyle Janse van Rensburg. Conversions: Chadlin Sellidon. Penalty: Chadlin Sellidon
Dr EG Jansen 27 (15) – Tries: Werner Breydenbach, Ewan Pretorius, Jaco Engelbrecht, Dian Botha, Liam Hector. Conversion: Dian Botha
