By Chesley Daniels
St Marks Alicedale 1st XV recorded its first Epru SCORE Grand Challenge Bottom 12 win over archrivals Lily White from Makhanda in their second round fixture at the Alicedale Sports Ground on Saturday 4 May.
The home side took a narrow 7-3 lead into the break.
The all-important home ground win for the Bulls over Blues saw both teams now with one win and one defeat after round two. Lily White won their first round match against Aberdeen 22-17 last weekend while St Marks went down 5-26 against Adelaide Rangers.
St Marks are in their first ever Grand Challenge competition while Lily White has been playing in the GC for the past three years now. Both teams went into Saturday’s clash with only one thing in mind – come out as winners after the final whistle. The home team was a bit under pressure but eager to win at all cost after losing their opening round fixture. The Blues on the other hand came with a winning momentum behind them and were a team full of confidence after their impressive first round win at home. The Blues’ management were full of confidence heading into the fixture that they would come back with a win from Alicedale but it was always known that the Bulls are a very difficult side to beat at their fortress, the House of Pain. As underdogs and newcomers to the GC, St Marks relished the underdog tag but were very much hopeful they could beat the decent side in the Blues at home and in front of their faithful supporters.
The game was played in a very good spirit as both teams’ forwards were constantly in each other’s faces throughout the game. It was as expected, a very hard and physical battle, especially up front where the Bulls’ forwards showed their physicality in the scrums and lineout driving mauls. Lily White gave the ball a lot of air and made the game fast by playing with their backs and keeping the ball away from the big forward pack of St Marks.
The first half was an evenly contested affair as both sides played brilliant rugby with numerous scoring opportunities afforded to them. Young Razeek Saterdag went over for the only try of the first half for St Marks, to give his side a narrow 7-3 lead.
The second half saw the big powerful pack of forwards from the Bulls using their trademark stand-off and-drive maul game that suits them in gaining momentum and territorial advantage. They received scrum penalties with their dominance up front and that resulted in good quality balls for their young, speedy and skillful backs. The home side’s discipline let them down a bit in the second half and that resulted in the team conceding a penalty try for repeated infringements close to their try line. The competitive battle continued as the home side gained momentum through their dominant pack that lead to a try by Charles Oosthuizen and later by young winger Dino Bruintjies, as St Marks got themselves in a firm position that required the Blues to score twice to win.
The closing stages of the game saw the visitors piling the pressure on the home side with wave after wave of attacks in search of scoring opportunities, but solid defending from the Bulls prevented them. The home side held their composure and their lead until the final whistle, to advance as 19-10 winners.
POINTS FOR ST MARKS
TRIES: Razeek Saterdag, Dino Bruintjies
CONVERSIONS: Razeek Saterdag, Dino Bruintjies
LILY WHITE POINTS:
PENALTY TRY
PENALTY: Andile Thethani
St Marks’ captain, Cameron Jewell said he was happy with the hard-fought win. “We had to dig deep to clinch it in the end. Blues are a very good side and it was not easy for us to beat them.”
Jewell alluded to the physicality of the encounter. “It was a very physical battle between the two forwards as we were constantly in each other’s faces. It was very hard and physical upfront with our backs brilliant with ball in hand and could stand their man against the bigger backline of the Blues.”
He praised the strength of his team’s forward pack. “Our line outs were a bit scratchy at times with numerous handling errors due to the windy conditions.”
Jewell said there was room for improvement in his team’s performance.
The team faces Orlando Eagles in Thornhill this coming weekend and Jewell hopes they can be good travellers and win away from home.
