Craven Week: Falcons fly to victory

The Falcons got their Craven Week off the ideal start when they ran in seven tries to beat Eastern Province Country Districts 43-27.

Four first half tries saw them take a commanding 26-12 lead in the match but EP CD staged a mini comeback in the opening exchanges of the second half before the Falcons dug deep to grab late tries to effectively fly away with the result.

Things got off to a cagey start with handling errors making for a stop-start affair.

However, that would change in the 11th minute when EP CD grabbed the opening points of the match following a spell of pressure on the Falcons defence. Xolile Mdlokovana found himself in acres of space on the left wing and had a fairly score in the corner.

The 18th minute saw a brief moment of football skills lead to the Falcons getting on the scoreboard through Ntshepe Kokong. They managed to turn the ball over on the halfway line and hacked the ball forward. The bounce of the ball went their way and allowed Kokong to run down his second kick ahead to score next to the posts. Xander Crause added the extra points.

The Falcons had their tails up and crossed the try line three minutes later when Marco Niemandt displayed superb individual skill from 40 metres out to grab the score after side stepping his way through the EP CD defence. Franklin Wagner grabbed their third try in the 27th minute when he sniped through a half-gap from 40 metres out to extend the lead to 12 points.

The Falcons were hitting their straps and scored their fourth try in no time with Crause being given the ball with acres of space in front of him to canter to the try line. He picked himself up to slot his third conversion of the match.  

EP CD would had the final say of the half though when Gevanhier Blom showed exceptional pace to round the Falcons defence on the halfway line and grab their second try of the match. Geoffrey Dakin slotted his first conversion of the match as EP CD trailed 12-26 at the break.

The boys from the Eastern Cape came out firing in the second half and found reward three minutes after the restart when Dakin bamboozled three Falcons defenders to score under the uprights. He converted the try to reduce the deficit to just seven points.

A MC van Damme charge up-field in the 40th minute saw him presenting good, quick ball at the breakdown. The ball was sent to the backline who drew their defenders to create an overlap on the left touchline and allowed Mdlokovana to grab a brace and reduce the deficit to just two points.

The Falcons found their groove in the 50th minute when Erich Cronje benefited from a well-executed set-play off the back of a five metre scrum. The centre cut on an inside line off the back of a pop pass from Crause and beat three defenders before diving over the try line to extend their lead.

Dakin helped EP CD narrow the gap to four points through a penalty in the 53rd minute when he split the uprights from about 30 metres.

The Falcons remained composed from that point and slowly worked their way up the field. They found themselves with a line-out five metres from EP CD's try line and set a rolling maul that powered over the try line in the 61st minute. Dylan Van der Walt emerged with the ball from the bottom of the pile of bodies before Crause slotted the conversion to extend their lead to 11 points.

With three minutes remaining in the contest, Crause perfectly executed a chip-and-chase to grab his second try of the match to round-off the scoring.

Man of the Match: Xander Crause

Scorers:

For The Falcons:

Tries: Kokong, Niemandt, Wagner, Crause 2, Cronje, van der Walt

Cons: Crause 4

For Eastern Province Country Districts:

Tries: Mdlokovana 2, Blom, Dakin

Cons: Dakin 2

Pen: Dakin

Teams:

The Falcons: 15 Francois Erasmus, 14 Ntshepe Kokong, 13 Marco Niemandt, 12 Erich Cronje, 11 Franklin Wagner, 10 Xander Crause, 9 Ginter Smuts, 8 Edwin Jansen, 7 Dylan van der Walt, 6 Timothy van Dieman, 5 Hendre Stassen (captain), 4 Thokozani Skhosana, 3 Rouxbann Baumann, 2 Tinus Gruindelingh, 1 Phillip Jacobs.

Replacements: 16 Nico Peyper, 17 Brendan Strydom, 18 Andre van der Merwe, 19 Damon Karelse, 20 Simanqaliso Moalusi, 21 Romano Jonkerman, 22 Irvin Ali.

Eastern Province Country Districts: 15 Athenkosi Halom, 14 Gevanhier Blom, 13 Sibabalwe Mzanywa, 12 Joshua Nieuwoudt, 11 Xolile Mdlokovana, 10 Geoffrey Dakin, 9 Xander Stotter, 8 Pieter Swanepoel, 7 Luyolo Tshongweni, 6 Herman du Plessis, 5 Jason Lizamore, 4 Janse Roux, 3 MC van Damme, 2 Michiel Uys,

1 Thembinkosi Mangwana.

Replacements: 16 Wihan Ferreira, 17 Ewan Pieters, 18 Mike van Brede, 19 Renier Pretorius, 20 Khanyisa Tshuni, 21 Grant Dixie, 22 Chulu Chutu.

Referee: Vusimuzi Msibi

Assistant referees: Jaco Pretorius, Sindile Ngcese

Television match official: Oregopotse Rametsi

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