Hilton made of the Wright stuff
In what might otherwise have ended in a deadlock, flyhalf Cameron Wright proved to be the difference as Hilton recorded a gripping 13-6 victory over Kearsney on Gilfillan. Chief architect Wright scored all of his team's points - including a scintillating try.
There might not have been many scores in the 70-minutes but it was a match filled with excitement and both teams were denied several try-scoring opportunities by some persistent defense at both ends.
Hilton realised they needed to counter Kearsney's strong physical presence near the fringes of breakdowns and the fact that Kearsney did not get over the line shows how successful the hosts were in this regard. The home team's defence reorganised well and swiftly when required, seldom ever seeming to panic.
Mention also has to be made of Hilton fullback Greg Morris whose positional play was of a high standard. By comparison, Kearsney's untidiness at the back in their attempts to deal with Hilton's kicking game, placed them under undue pressure.
On attack, aside from Wright, forwards Chris de Beer and Greg Pappas were probably Hilton's best players on the park. Time and time again the beefy units were on hand to carry the ball up with a lot of passion and power.
The two key players were instrumental in the build-up to the only try as well. However it was Wright's solo effort that stole the show.
Throughout the game, the flyhalf who afterwards admitted to still preferring the role of scrumhalf, used a movement that looked like it came straight out of the Carlos Spencer handbook. By shrugging his shoulders and hopping on the spot while waving the ball held in two hands in front of him, he was able to hypnotise Kearsney defenders.
Wright's trick often brought the advancing defensive line to a dead standstill just long enough for him to then pick a gap to attack. From here the broad-shouldered pivot combined quickness off the mark with decent lateral motion to brush passed first time tacklers.
Had Hilton lost the game, some of Wright's decision-making might have been called into question however given the final outcome, his choices to back himself several times proved to be the correct ones.
When a ball taken in a lineout by Pappas, then carried up by de Beer eventually found its way to Wright standing near the halfway line, he once again employed his signature move ahead of cutting back against the grain, racing into a hole then wrong-footing the last obstacle in his path and rounding this man to score the try. And what a great try it was.
Wright also contributed a penalty either side of his converted try. Sandile Khubeka accounted for all the Kearsney points, scored in the first half via two penalties.
The half-time score of 13-6 was not added to after the break.
Kearsney mixed the good in with the bad in both halves.
In the first half Ayron Schramm was at the forefront of two very promising moves down the middle. The young lock utilised a range of skills learnt during his time as a backline player and sparked some useful short interchanges that saw Kearsney advancing to well inside their opponents' 22-metre area on both occasions. However as was to be the theme for the day, Kearsney failed to convert these golden opportunities into 5-pointers, earning only three points in total from the two outstanding plays.
Kearsney were also reluctant to make use of quick-ball to move the play wide and the seeming lack of faith in their wings was further emphasised by players on the inside choosing to seek contact when overlaps and better chances appeared to be available on the outside.
Last passes and backhand flick passes not going to hand also caused visiting supporters much frustration.
In the second half Kearsney made better use of their backs. Matt Reece-Edwards and Khubeka seemed to help add a dimension to Kearsney's game.
In terms of close range try scoring opportunities, Kearsney came agonisingly close a couple of times. The visitors did well to get into the red zone but could not find a way over the line. Hilton's defense stood firm. Here near the tryline, Kearsney were perhaps guilty of undoing the initial good decisive build-up work by being flatfooted and a tad bit too predictable when it counted most.
Hilton's most memorable second half moments came later on in the game.
Big lock Sebastian Negri impressed with his work-rate in the last quarter of the game. He showed a clean set of heels when he galloped down the down the right-hand touchline, outpacing a wing in the process. The promising move was halted when Hilton were forced into touch just a few metres short of the corner flag.
Later after Tim Fainsinger had made the crucial midfield break, a flying Jaeger Richmond collected a pass on the bounce a long way out and for all money looked to be heading over for a try. Kearsney again managed to pull off a try saving tackle but conceded a penalty in the process.
Wright wasn't perfect on the day. He did miss three missed penalty attempts and his confidence also saw him unsuccessfully trying to run the ball out from behind his own goalline earlier in the half. However as an overall package, the flyhalf had an outstanding game.
All ended well for Hilton who recorded a morale-boosting home win following two close defeats to Westville and Glenwood at the same venue.
The teams:
Hilton: 15 G Morris, 14 A Garcao, 13 J Richmond, 12 T Fainsinger, 11 M Dickerson, 10 C Wright, 9 A Rayner, 8 N Maseko, 7 G Pappas, 6 C Taylor, 5 M Hoole, 4 S Negri, 3 M Haynes, 2 T Gerber, 1 C de Beer (captain).
Kearsney: 15 M Reece-Edwards, 14 J Devine, 13 S Kubeka, 12 B Cremer, 11 I Ngidi, 10 T Tedder, 9 D Seals, 8 G Francis, 7 J Du Preez, 6 T Harwood, 6 S Kelly, 5 D Du Preez, 4 A Schramm, 3 M Moloi, 2 B Pelliccia,1 J Deighton (captain).
By Beet