Menlo Give Selborne a Battle
In contrast to the ideal conditions on the first day of the Kearsney Easter Rugby Festival, the first match of day two, between Selborne College and Menlopark, started with a slight mist over the ground. This soon cleared, but the ball remained slightly slippery. This did not prevent some good rugby and a second win for Selborne, this time 28-20.
The first half belonged to Menlopark from Pretoria who dominated territory and Selborne did most of the tackling. An early penalty by Craven Week player Andell Loubser put Menlo ahead. With continued pressure on the Selborne line, their defensive wall eventually broke as centre and captain Wayne van der Bank burst through for a five-pointer which Loubser converted.
Selborne got on to the scoreboard with a long-range penalty by scrumhalf Joshua Alderman from just inside the Menlo half. Loubser replied soon after with a 50m penalty to keep Menlo 10 points ahead at 13-3. Twice only did Selborne get into the red zone on attack, but the Menlo defence held firm. Alderman converted his second penalty to leave Selborne 6-13 at the half-time break.
In a game of two halves, Selborne dominated the second period and it was a mistake by Menlo in their 22m area which led to centre Andile Koyana going through to bring Selborne two points behind. A further penalty by Alderman, and a try two minutes later by wing Tristian Coetzer who darted over, together with Alderman's conversion, left Selborne 21-13 ahead.
Continued pressure by Selborne saw flank Darren Lemmer dive over and again Alderman was successful adding the two points, to leave Selborne 28-13 in front.
On the final whistle, Menlo flank Gerald Lowe got over from a penalty close to the line. This was the first time in the half that Menlo had reached the Selborne 22m area. It was converted by Loubser for a 28-20 win by Selborne, who now remain undefeated going into Monday’s last day of the festival.
Scorers:
For Selborne:
Trie:s T Coetzer, A Koyana, D Lemmer
Cons: J Alderman 2
Pens: J Alderman 3
For Menlopark:
Tries: W van der Bank, G Lowe
Cons A Loubser 2
Pens: A Loubser 2
Teams
Menlopark: 15 Andell Loubser, 14 Leon Pretorius, 13 Stean Pienaar, 12 Wayne van der Bank (captain), 11 Dewald Peens, 10 Brian Bouwer, 9 Dylan van der Bank, 8 Willem Hoffmeyer, 7 Dale Hartmann, 6 Gerald Lowe, 5 Riekert Korff, 4 Ruhan Straeuli, 3 Roan Liebenberg, 2 Ruben Maritz, 1 Wiehann Pienaar.
Replacements: 16 Danie Rosseau, 17 Deon Rosseau, 18 Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg, 19 Louis Jordaan, 20 Calvin Murdoch, 21 Nathan Nienaber, 22 Jacques Fourie, 23 Donovan Schneider.
Selborne College: 15 Michael Botha, 14 Tristan Coetzer, 13 Andile Koyana, 12 David Brits, 11 Thakga Boloko, 10 Morgan Steyn, 9 Joshua Alderman, 8 Lutho Selem, 7 Darren Lemmer, 6 Heinrich Nieuwenhuizen, 5 Hein Rust, 4 Daniel Froneman, 3 Daniel Voigt, 2 Grant Venter, 1 Cole van Tonder.
Replacements: 16 Connor Deary, 17 Leon Lyons, 18 Phumzile Maqondwana, 19 Matthew Aucamp, 20 James Bruce, 21 Joshua Armstrong, 22 Sango Xamlashe.