Saturday 16 February saw SEDRU’s annual Mayoral Cup kick off, with six matches in total taking place in Makhanda (Grahamstown) and Alexandria combined. At the Oval in Makhanda, Old Collegians took on Easterns, and Brumbies clashed with Lily White. Both matches were preceded by games between the teams’ First reserves. In Alexandria, Trying Stars and Kowie United and both teams’ First reserves played.
In Alexandria, Trying Stars First Reserves beat Kowie United First Reserves in a 20-5 thriller. Trying Stars proved to be dominant, winning the main clash 45-14 over Kowie United at fulltime. Overall, dynamic rugby was played with both games providing ample entertainment and drawing a decent crowd of supporters.
Photo: Daniel Goldberg
In Makhanda,the First Reserves clash exhibited running rugby at its finest. Old Collegians First Reserves churned out a clinical victory 28-0 against Easterns First Reserves, attributed to their general dominance on the field. Brumbies First Reserves emerged victorious in their clash against Lily White First Reserves, with the score at fulltime sitting at 17-5 in favour of Brumbies.
The First Team clashes at The Oval were an even greater display of traditional rugby. Old Collegians vs Easterns resulted in a draw at 16-16. Both teams fought hard and the result was very apt of the game’s nature. Neither team could emerge dominant throughout the game despite both clubs’ best efforts.
The final match of the day, Brumbies versus Lily White, began via two Brumbies tries in the first half. Lily White responded with a try of their own on the stroke of half time to go into the break 10-5 in favour of Brumbies. Brumbies upped the intensity during the second half and dispatched Lily White for a full time score of Brumbies 29-13 Lily White. Brumbies’ victory can mostly give recognition to the discipline and organisation of their backline’s structure, as well as their forwards’ intensity on defence.
The opening weekend of SEDRU’s 2019 Mayoral Cup proved to be successful and showed a lot of promise for the rest of this year’s Mayoral Cup. The next clashes take place on Saturday 23 February. On 23 February, teams will clash in Port Alfred, with Kowie United taking on Klipfontein and Wanderers going up against the Brumbies as well as Easterns versus Swallows at Miki Yili in Makhanda.
Photo: Daniel Goldberg
