By Chesley Daniels
Trying Stars 1st XV recorded a hard-fought 12-5 away win against hosts, Missionvale United, in their EPRU Grand Challenge Group A fixture in Gqebehra on 10 June. The halftime scores were level at 5-5 as an indication of how tight this clash was.
FIRST HALF
The narrow win left Stars still in second position on the log, with 24 (6) behind log leaders Progress with 33 (7).
The game started at a very high pace. A mistake from Stars in the fifth minute of the game saw Missionvale score through their hooker and move into a 5-0 lead early on in the game. The visitors consolidated and use their forwards who scored from a dominant scrum to level the score 5-5. The windy conditions made it very difficult for both teams to play their normal game, and a lot of enforced errors occurred, especially in the lineouts.
The game was also earmarked with a lot of off-the-ball incidents. Stars’ flanker was injured and carried off the field, resulting in a red card for Missionvale. Stars’ discipline also let them down, as they received two yellow cards. The first half ended scrappily with the halftime score level 5-5.
SECOND HALF
The second half saw the dominant forwards of Stars take control of the game with an early converted try by veteran and playmaker Kelvano King. This took the score to 12-5, and put the visitors in the lead for the first time in the match.
The Alex side was in control of the game but couldn’t convert the pressure into points. However, they should be glad with the win under extreme conditions. There were also a few missed opportunities from the visitors in their attempts to extend the lead and score more tries. Missionvale pushed very hard to score points towards the end in search of a converted try to level the score and make it a draw. But the solid and cohesive defence from Stars stood firm, preventing them from scoring.
FINAL SCORE: TRYING STARS WON 12-5
POINTS SCORERS FOR TRYING STARS:
TRIES: Lance King, Kelvano King
CONVERSION: Kelvano King
The senior player and centre of Stars, Flinn Cannon, was again in sublime form and received the Grocott’s Mail/Daniels MEDIA Man of the Match Award. Cannon was robust on both attack and defence. He put in a sterling all-round performance on the day. He was all over the field and linked up nicely with forwards and backs, with his storming runs.
