Jim Fouché pip Tralies at the death

On Saturday Jim Fouché took on old rival Sentraal in a titanic battle that ended in favour of the homeside 28-27.

The match will be remembered for being fast-paced and exciting the whole way through - right up to the final whistle. The reason for this was that there weren't too many handling errors and loss of possession so both sides had the opportunity to attack.

Sentraal took an early lead in the match and mid-way through the first-half they had a 5-0 lead over their opposition.

This seemed to spark the hosts into life and they started playing better rugby and more as a unit. Wing JP Steyn ran in two tries to give Jim Fouché a 10-5 lead just before the end of the half.

Sentraal hit back beautifully with another try which meant that the two sides went into the break tied-up at 10-10.

The second-half really came to life as the visitors cruised into a 27-18 lead after they racked up the points in the second stanza.

Jim Fouché were not going let the game slip away from them and they hit back to take a slender 28-27 lead with only six minutes left in the game.

The hosts managed to fight off a late barrage from Sentraal and held out for a memorable 28-27 win in a highly entertaining and nail-biting affair.

The scorers:

For Jim Fouché:

Tries: JP Steyn (2), Wian Musgrave, Daneel Stone, Marco Vermeulen

Penalty: Musgrave

For Sentraal:

Tries: Kruger, Tack, Wessels, Gerber.

Conversions: De Lange(2)

Penalty: De Lange

The teams:

Jim Fouche: 15 Danneel Stone, 14 Wian Musgrave, 13 Carel-Jan Coetzee, 12 Armand de Wet, 11 JP Steyn, 10 Ruan Wasserman, 9 Marco Vermeulen, 8 PC Labuschagne (captain), 7 Tjibbe Spoelstra, 6 Hanno Spies, 5 Jandré Briedenham, 4 Morne Griesel, 3 JP Le Roux, 2 Johan Erasmus, 1 Eduan Wepener.

Sentraal: 15 Tiaan Wolvaart, 14 Niel Le Roux, 13 Brendon Kahts, 12 Michiel Venter, 11 Wian Koekemoer, 10 DP de Lange, 9 Brandon Bruwer, 8 Stefan Kruger, 7 Francois Tack, 6 DB Nel, 5 Johan Strydom, 4 SJ Wessels, 3 Lafra Bekker, 2 Ryno Gerber (captain), 1 Stephan van Heerden.

Replacements: 16 Ruco Roberts, 17 Pieter Kotze, 18 Fanie du Randt, 19 Tjaart Prinsloo, 20 Franco Mostert, 21 Johan Cilliers, 22 DJ Hefer.