By CHESLEY DANIELS
Old Collegians (OC) secured an injury-time 20-0 bonus point win over Ndlambe Tigers in their final fixture of the EPRU SEDRU Regional League competition at the Oval on Saturday afternoon. The home side took a decent 15-0 lead at the break.
OC were also victorious against Tigers in their first-round match.
The contest was played in a good spirit in cold weather conditions. It was also very physical and brutal throughout. Both forward packs took the ball up and were in each other’s faces all day. OC were under pressure in the early stages but came back strongly with their skilful forwards, who dominated at scrum time and lineouts. The big number 8 Siyamthanda Wambi scored the opening try for OC in the 18th minute of the first half when he bashed his way through a couple of defenders in the left-hand corner.
Sinothando Belwane added his name to the scoresheet with a fine try in the right-hand corner as OC took a 10-0 lead in the 24th minute. The home side continued to attack and ran the ball from their own half, putting the visitors under pressure. A fantastic try by scrum-half Anele Maguma in the 32nd minute brought the score to 15-0, which was also the halftime score.
The second half saw Tigers launching a comeback with their strong ball carries but kept making crucial errors close to the try line. Tigers were unlucky not to score points in the second half with their surfeit of ball possession. On the other hand, OC were looking for that all-important fourth bonus point try. Tigers did very well to prevent them from achieving the bonus point try and defended brilliantly until the end. OC were overeager to score the last try and put themselves under pressure. A defensive blunder in injury time saw the home side scoring the bonus try in the right-hand corner by winger Davien Douglas to hand them a hard-fought 20-0 win. The home side missed all their kicks at goal where they usually are on target.
The Daniels MEDIA Man of the Match went to OC’s monster 8th man Siyamthanda Wambi. Wambi was again at his best and was brilliant in all aspects of his game. He scored a fine try whilst his powerful ball carries gained metres and momentum. His colossal defence was just outstanding. He was also brilliant on the ground at breakdown situations.
Unofficial SEDRU Log as of 13/08/2022:
- St Mark’s – 66 (16)
- Klipfontein – 57 (16)
- Rhodes – 54 (16)
- Kowie United – 49 (16)
- OC – 44 (16)
- Swallows 28 (16)
- Tigers – 26 (16)
- Rosebuds – 25 (16)
- Wanderers – 0 (16)
