Griquas CD edge Griffons in nail-biting opener

Lombard contributed 13 of his side's points while wing Sebastian Jobb bagged a brace.

The Griffons outscored their opponents five tries to three though, however, their kicking at goal let them down and ultimately cost them the victory.

Griquas CD opened the scoring soon after kick-off when the Griffons were pinned for not rolling away at the first breakdown. Iwan Lombard slotted the kick at goal to hand his side a 3-0 lead.

Griquas shut down each of the Griffons' attacks from that point and placed immense pressure on their opponents but the Griffons remained calm in defence to keep their opponents at bay. Griquas' turned their possession into points as Lombard slotted his second penalty in the 16th minute to extend his side's lead to 6-0.

The Griffons got themselves on the board in the 19th minute when Triumph Boloyi raced away to score in the corner after a dominant scrum on Griquas CD's 22. But Lombard's kicking boot extended Griquas CD's lead to 9-5 in the 24th minute when he slotted the kick from the halfway line.

But the Griffons hit back immediately through flyhalf Jason Wagman, who stepped and sprinted from 50 metres to dot down his side's second unconverted try to hand the Griffons a 10-9 lead in the 26th minute.

It would be Griquas CD who went into the half-time break with the momentum though as Sebastian Jobb showed his finishing prowess to carve his way through the Griffons' defence to grab his side's first try of the game. Lombard added the conversion to head into the break with a 16-10 lead.

Griquas CD came out firing as Jacques Marthinus scored his side's second try when he received a sublime offload from Delron Speelman. Lombard failed with the conversion but his side's lead stretched to 21-10 after 39 minutes.

Griffons were not going down without a fight though as they hit back in the 43rd minute through fullback Qamani Kota. Brendan van der Walt failed with the conversion but the deficit was cut to 15-21. The deficit was cut to a single point in the 49th minute when Ulrich Stander scored his side's fourth try of the game.

From an attacking scrum, he broke away from the back and used his power to get over the line. Griffons failed to convert their try once again – which would have handed them the lead.

Griquas CD edged themselves ahead in the 65th minute when Jobb grabbed his second try of the match. Lombard's conversion made it 28-20 but the Griffons hit back in the 69th minute when Brendan van der Walt showed plenty of speed to score.

Kota added the extras to once again reduce the deficit to a solitary point, 27-28.

That try proved too late though as Griquas CD held on for the win.

Scorers:

For Griffons:

Tries: Triumph Boloyi, Jason Wagman, Qamani Kota, Ulrich Stander, Brendan van der Walt

Con: Qamani Kota

For Griquas CD:

Tries: Sebastian Jobb 2, Jacques Marthinus

Cons: Iwan Lombard 2

Pens: Iwan Lombard 3

Teams:

Griffons: 15 Qamani Kota (Welkom Gimnasium), 14 Triumph Boloyi (Goudveld), 13 Verlyn van Vollenhoven (Welkom Gimnasium), 12 Keith van Aswegen (Welkom Gimnasium), 11 Francois Maree (Welkom Gimnasium), 10 Jason Wagman (Welkom Gimnasium), 9 Owen Kleynhans (Hentie Cilliers), 8 Ulrich Stander (Welkom Gimnasium), 7 Christo Steyn (Welkom Gimnasium), 6 Brandon Botha (Welkom Gimnasium), 5 Hussayn Banzi (Welkom Gimnasium), 4 DJ Hatting (Afrikaanse Hoërskool Kroonstad), 3 Jan Wolfaardt Meades (Witteberg), 2 Dillon Minnaar (Welkom Gimnasium), 1 Francois Klopper (Bethlehem Voortrekker), 16 Kenneth Sheppard (Hentie Cilliers), 17 Daniel Jordaan (Witteberg), 18 Carl Senyane (Welkom Gimnasium), 19 Regard Smallberger (Bethlehem Voortrekker), 20 Marnich Thessner (Welkom Gimnasium), Georgen Kiewiet (Welkom Gimnasium), Dealine Jafta (Hentie Cilliers), 23 Brendan van der Walt (Afrikaans Hoërskool Kroonstad).

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: Mpho Matsaung 

Assistant referees: Pieter Maritz, Aimee Barrett-Theron 

Assessor: Willie Roos