Westville sneak past Menlopark

The third match of the Kearsney Easter Rugby Festival saw local side Westville beat Menlopark from Pretoria 27-25 in an exciting game.

With Westville spending much of the first 20 minutes defending, it was Menlopark that went ahead in the third minute when centre Stean Pienaar cut through the defence to score the first try and after the conversion by full-back Andell Loubser they took an early seven point lead.

Westville struck back almost immediately when fullback Shane Ball ran down the left touchline to score.  Menlopark’s inside centre Wayne van der Bank then scored to leave the Gauteng visitors 12-5 in the lead; which was increased to 15-5 following a drop goal by fly-half Brian Bouwer.

For the second time Westville struck back when Ball scored his second try with a kick ahead after showing some pace to beat the Menlo defender to the ball. Centre James Wheeler then left the defenders behind with a run of 40m for a try of his own before Craig Schlemmer converted to leave Westville 17-15 in front at half-time.

They increased their lead to 24-15 after wing Tonny Mahlangu scored in the first few minutes of the second half with Schlemmer converting.  

The drama was yet to come.  Loubser converted a penalty to narrow the gap to six points and then good move by Menlopark saw Loubser combining well with his two centres to go over under the poles and converted the try to leave them 25-24 in front with just a few minutes remaining.

A crucial penalty to Westville on full-time saw Schlemmer hold his nerve and convert from 40m out to give Westville the win.

Scorers:

For Westville:

Tries: Ball 2, Schlemmer, Mahlangu

Cons: Schlemmer 2

Pen: Schlemmer

Menlopark

Tries: Pienaar, Van der Bank, Loubser

Cons: Loubser 2

Pen: Loubser

DG: Bouwer

Teams:

Westville: 15 Shane Ball (captain), 14 Tonny Mahlangu, 13 Mpilo Shange, 12 Brogan Boulle, 11 James Wheeler, 10 Niel van Rooyen, 9 Bryce Kitching, 8 Keegan Nicholson, 7 Devon Muller, 6 Donovan Grant, 5 Johannes Pelzer, 4 Sibabalo Qoma, 3 Shawn Stolz, 2 Hendrik Prinsloo, 1 Jordan Els.

Replacements: 16 Damon Lee, 17 Melusi Mtabela, 18 Marcelle Barnard, 19 Zane Heyneke, 20 Garryth Jackson, 21 Craig Schlemmer, 22 Hanro Naude, 23 Sakhle Xaba.

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.