St Andrew’s 1st XV put in a good second half performance to beat Graeme College 23-7 on Saturday 7 May, redeeming themselves after their last minute loss in 2015.
St Andrew’s 1st XV put in a good second half performance to beat Graeme College 23-7 on Saturday 7 May, redeeming themselves after their last minute loss in 2015.
The first half was a tight affair with both St Andrew’s and Graeme showing promise on the attack whilst the Graeme defence was solid throughout the half.
St Andrew’s eventually broke the deadlock as a well set up maul saw James Wilson go over for the first points of the game to make the half time score 5-0.
In the second half, St Andrew’s found their rhythm and started to look dangerous on the attack.
Angus Cook and Ross Ferguson went over for tries for St Andrew’s as the game started to open up and Chris Benjamin's penalty, along with a well worked try with some good passing, saw Tom Stevens go over to put the hosts 23-0 ahead.
Graeme managed to score a consolation try after scrumhalf Cameron Amos went over and Sivu Ngqiyaza had no problems with the conversion.
Graeme had good opportunities in the second half but suffered from ‘try line fever’ as several errors meant their try scoring efforts came to nothing.
St Andrew’s coach Gerry Posthumus was pleased with the way his team bounced back from last year's result.
“It was a solid performance. We weren’t accurate enough in the beginning but we found our feet in the second half.”
He also praised Graeme on their physicality which made it tough for St Andrews, “It was a physical encounter and Graeme gave everything. They disrupted us well but as we gained dominance at the breakdown we gained dominance in the match.”
Graeme coach, Jonty van der Meulen, described it as a game that St Andrew’s “had to work hard for on the day”.
St Andrew’s are next in action this weekend as they take on Cambridge High School from East London.
sport@grocotts.co.za
