Dale edge Queen's in Classic thriller
The large crowd witnessed an entertaining, high paced and exciting match played between two evenly balanced teams.
The first half was dominated by Queen's. They stamped their mark early on with a fine converted try through fullback Sakhele Ngeno following a good line break by centre Justin Kuyler. Christopher Hollis missed two early penalty attempts but slotted a long range effort later in the half to give Queen's a 10-6 lead, after Dale's flyhalf, Siphosethu Dlongodlongo, kicked two penalties.
Lukhanyiso Tsosholwana, scored for Dale after a lineout mall close to the Queen's line. Dlongodlongo was not able to convert but this gave Dale an 11-10 lead. Queen's finished the half off strongly with a try each to Hollis and Gareth Heidtmann. Hollis was not able to convert either of the tries but Queen's held a 20-11 at the break.
Queen's started off the 2nd half well but a grubber kicked bounced badly for the two Queen's chasers and was collected by the Dale fullback, Aphelele Fassi, who ran in a 70-metre try against the run of play. Dlongodlongo converted to close the margin to 18-20.
Queen's were next to score through a strong barging run by Cameron Cato off a line-out mall. Hollis was unable to convert but Queen's stretched their lead to 25-18. Dlongodlongo missed a penalty attempt a few minutes later.
He did however, make up for this by scoring a try and converting it himself to level the scores at 25-25. Dale then scored again through left wing Litha Nkula which Dlongodlongo converted to give Dale a 32-25 lead for the first time in the match.
The Queenians threw everything into attack in the closing minutes and were rewarded for their efforts through a second Heidtmann try. Hollis was unable to convert to level the game and this left the final score at 32-30 in favour of Dale.
The Queen's side will rue the missed opportunities in the game that could have resulted in a win for the home side.
Report by Queen's College
