Affies beat College despite comeback

Affies of Pretoria beat Maritzburg College 31-19 on Goldstone’s in Pietermaritzburg on Saturday.

Affies visited College for the second consecutive year, because their grounds were to be used for parking for the test match in Pretoria. They had, to date, enjoyed an up and down season, the low point of which was a comprehensive loss to Grey College in Pretoria.

For the first half of this match, however, they were outstanding. Their powerful forwards won plenty of ball and drove purposefully to create space for a big, quick backline. College, at this stage, had little answer and Affies scored four excellent tries, two of which were converted, for a 24-0 half-time lead.

When they opened the second half with a further converted try, for a 31-0 lead, the floodgates appeared to be ready to open completely. But a strange transformation came over the match.

For the first time in the game College began to win good possession and they pinned Affies in their half. Affies seemed content to kick the ball deep and wait for mistakes, but College had stopped making them. Instead, College scored three tries of their own and, although they never looked like winning, the final score, 31-19, represented a fine second half comeback.

By Tony Wiblin