Boland hold on against determined Griquas CD

Boland took a fairly comfortable 27-7 lead into the half-time break but Griquas CD hit back in the second half to narrow the deficit to just six points with 14 minutes left in the match. However, they were unable to finish strong though as they succumbed to the defeat.

After an early arm-wrestle, Clint Buys opened the scoring as he slotted a sixth-minute penalty to hand Boland a 3-0 lead before PJ Boltman grabbed the first try of the game in the ninth minute when he scored in the corner. Boland took their lead to 8-0 as Buys was unable to add the conversion.

The arm-wrestle continued from that point as neither side was able to hold onto the ball long enough to launch a meaningful attack.

That all changed in the 21st minute when Boland pulled themselves together and strung a few phases together. The ball was shifted wide to Rone Lucas, who raced away down the touchline to score under the uprights. Buys added the extras to stretch his side's lead to 15-0.

Griquas were slowly finding their feet in the match and an excellent break by fullback Jacques Marthinus got them on the front foot. He powered his way into Boland's 22 and offloaded to Petrus Duvenhage, who had an easy line to the try-line. Iwan Lombard converted to reduce the deficit to 7-15 after 27 minutes.

Boland hit back with a try that originated inside their half and was rounded off by Lucas, who bagged his second try of the match. Buys once again failed with the conversion but the lead was stretched to 20-7 after 30 minutes.

There was time for one more Boland try before the half-time break as Johan Geldenhuys powered his way over from close range. Buys added the extras to stretch the lead to 27-7 after 33 minutes.

The match remained tightly contested in the second half as the teams wrestled for dominance. It took some time for the first points of the half to be scored and it came through Griquas CD's Duvenhage, who crashed over from close range for his second of the game. Lombard added the extras to trail 14-27 after 53 minutes.

The opening day's Hero of the Day then showed some blistering speed to grab Griquas CD's third try of the match when he pounced on a loose ball before racing away to score unopposed. Lombard's conversion reduced the deficit to 21-27 after 56 minutes.

Boland were under pressure for the remainder of the match but one final counter-attack in the final minute sealed the victory as Lloyd April cantered over for the try. Buys failed with the conversion but it mattered little.

Scorers:

For Boland:

Tries: PJ Boltman, Rone Lucas 2, Johan Geldenhuys, Lloyd April 

Cons: Clint Buys 2

Pen: Clint Buys

For Griquas CD:

Tries: Petrus Duvenhage 2, Sebastian Jobb

Cons: Iwan Lombard 3

Yellow cards: Johandré Rupping (Boland, 24); Gerhard Kotze (Griquas CD, 31; dangerous play – neck roll)

Teams: 

Boland: 15 Jasper Cohen (Drostdy), 14 Rone Lucas (Robertson), 13 Chris Grobbelaar (Drostdy), 12 PJ Boltman (Vredendal), 11 Clint Buys (Drostdy), 10 JP Viviers (Augsburg Gimnasium), 9 Romeo Eksteen (Drostdy), 8 Marco Griebenauw (Augsburg Gimnasium), 7 Michael Otto (Hermanus), 6 Jevan Augsut (Weltevrede), 5 Dawid Oosthuizen (Robertson), 4 JC van Niekerk (Augsburg Gimnasiuim), 3 Athi Maginya (Charlie Hofmeyr), 2 Matthys van der Merwe (Hermanus), 1 Zenon Erasmus (Hugenote), 16 Johan Geldenhuys (Drostdy), 17 Trevor Laubscher (Drostdy), 18 Dehan Scheepers (Hermanus), 19 Johandré Rupping (Lutzville), 20 Michael Goodall (Hugenote), 21 Aphelele Madaka (Hermanus), 22 Shaun Baxter (Drostdy), 23 Jared Manus (Charlie Hofmeyr).

Griquas Country Districts: 15 Jacques Marthinus (Daniëlskuil), 14 Delron Speelman (Daniëlskuil), 13 Janno Lategan (Upington), 12 Devan Walters (Upington), 11 Sebastian Jobb (Duineveld), 10 Iwan Lombard (Upington), 9 Lourens de Jager (Upington), 8 Petrus Duvenhage (Upington), 7 Salmon Oberholzer (Duineveld), 6 Louis Alberts (Duineveld), 5 Jovan Oosthuizen (Duineveld), 4 Darryl Waterboer (Aggeneys), 3 Phillip Marais (Upington), 2 Hendrik van der Westhuizen (Duineveld), 1 Zean Augustyn (Duineveld), 16 Gerhard Kotze (Upington), 17 Jeandré Simon (Upington), 18 Carlo Farmer (Port Nolloth), 19 Isak Stallenberg (Kalahari), 20 Venter Scholtz (Upington), 21 Linton Maritz (Duineveld), 22 Winston van Wyk (Daniëlskuil), 23 Henlu Liebenberg (Duineveld).

Referee: Archie Sehlako 

Assistant referees: Aimee Barrett-Theron, Eduan Nel