By Chelsey Daniels
St Marks Alicedale 1st XV recorded a crucial 24-14 bonus point win against Eastern PE in their second round Score Epru Grand Challenge Bottom 12 clash at the Alicedale Sports Ground on Saturday afternoon.
The home side had a shaky start as they conceded a soft try early in the first half just after kick off, as Eastern took an early 7-0 lead. The Bulls couldn’t get going and made numerous errors that put further pressure on their quest to win with the required bonus point. Eastern gained momentum and came hard at the home side whose tackling and discipline let them down. The visitors scored again.
But the Bulls’ forwards started gelling with loose forward C’ve Litye leading the charge with his phenomenal and trademark ball carries and breakdown turnovers. This resulted in captain Cameron Jewell scoring the first try and also converting himself to narrow matters to 7-14. Litye;s superb form at the breakdowns continued as he made numerous turnovers and put his side on the front foot. Aphiwe Stoffels scored on the stroke of halftime as Eastern took a narrow 14-12 lead into the break.
It was all to play for in the second half as St Marks went in search of that fourth bonus point try. Eastern lost a player through ill-discipline – he was sin-binned for moaning and chirping at the referee. This resulted in loss of concentration and St Marks took advantage and scored two further tries through Edwin Saterdag and Ramos Mgoqi, securing the bonus point try.
It was with the fourth try after a brilliant long skip pass that Eastern alleged that it was a forward pass and decided to walk off the field. At that moment, there were still 15 minutes left in the second half as the Eastern player pointed his finger in the referee’s face and others were swearing at the referee. After Eastern decided not to continue with the game and walked off, the referee then blew his whistle to call the game off with the conversion kick to come as St Marks led 24-14.
C’ve Litye won man of the match for his sterling all-round performance on the day. He made 11 turnovers, was involved in three of his side’s tries, was powerful on attack with his bulldozing runs and was aggressive on defence.
It was a crucial fixture as both sides face relegation and a bonus point win was non-negotiable. The pressure was on the home side and the win saw St Marks live to see another day, as they can slightly breathe for now. St Marks remai in 10th position with 37 points and Eastern in 12th (last) position on 26 points. The two bottom teams (11th & 12th) positions on the log will be automatically relegated.
Kruisfontein United vs Grahamstown Brumbies
The Sports Complex was the venue for the Score Epru Grand Challenge Top 12 clash between champions Kruisfontein and Brumbies from Makhanda. Brumbies who are also under pressure and facing relegation, came home without receiving a log point out of the game, losing 24-32.
Brumbies were in a very good position to beat the champs in their own backyard but were very unlucky not to score more tries and points that were on offer to them. The home side felt the pressure as they also needed bonus point wins going further in order for them to reach the semi-finals. Brumbies’ powerful pack of forwards were once again solid upfront and dominated the scrums while their young skilful speedsters at the back looked dangerous with the ball in hand on attack. But it was the champs who used the home ground advantage to hold on to a decent 32-24 bonus point win.
Erin Goliath, Diego Isaacs and Tevin Pillay scored tries for Brumbies.
Kareedouw Tigers vs Lily White Grahamstown
The Makhanda side travelled to the Koukamma Municipality facing a 16-31 bonus point defeat. Blues still in 7th position on the overall Epru Grand Challenge Bottom 12 Log and all to play for with three matches remaining for them to end the season on a high note.
Trying Stars vs NMU Madibaz
Stars hosted the students in a packed Wentzel Park Sports Ground in Alexandria on Saturday, but fell short with a disappointing 17-29 defeat. The home side’s discipline let them down at stages and lost many scoring opportunities.
Stars also found themselves in good positions to win the game but were unlucky not to score more points in the end.
Daniels Media Unofficial GC Top 12 log as @ 13/09/2025:
1. Gardens – 73 (17)
2. PE Harlequins – 69 (17)
3. Progress – 63 (17)
4. Kruisfontein – 54 (19)
5. Park – 48 (18)
6. Star of Hope – 43 (19)
7. Trying Stars – 41 (19)
8. Joubertina – 41 (19)
9. Brumbies – 34 (19)
10. NMU – 31 (9)
11. Patensie – 29 (19)
12. Oostelikes – 11 (18)
Outstanding:
1. Progress vs Harlequins
2. Gardens vs Progress
3. Gardens vs Harlequins
Daniels Media Unofficial GC Bottom 12 Log as at 13/09/2025:
1. Surburban – 89
2. Born Fighters – 69
3. Middelburg Eagles – 68
4. Kareedouw Tigers – 60
5. Helenvale United – 56
6. Orlando Eagles – 53
7. Lily White – 43
8. Aberdeen – 41
9. Windvogel United – 41
10. St Marks Alicedale – 37
11. Eastern PE – 26
12. Adelaide Rangers – 26
Oustanding:
* Adelaide vs Lily White
* Adelaide vs Kareedouw
