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Middelburg had the better of the early exchanges but as the game progressed Noord-Kaap grew in confidence. At half-time it was HTS who had scored two tries, to the one of Noord-Kaap.

The scoring was opened by Middelburg when flyhalf Morné Sonnekus kicked a long penalty. Noord-Kaap backs showed a lot of pace and it came as no surprise when fullback Cameron Hufke picked up a loose ball and beat the defence for a 5-3 lead.

Andries Koen made a good break to put HTS in front again and before the break the heavier HTS forwards set up a maul from a penalty close to the try line. They rolled forward with lock Dolf Rossouw barging over and putting his side into a 13-5 half-time advantage.

Noord-Kaap scored first in the second half after Yaseer Daniels used pace to go over near the touchline.

Hufke, with a brilliant conversion in the conditions, narrowed the gap to a single point. Sonnekus kicked a three-pointer and shortly thereafter HTS hooker and captain Duart Willemse did well to squirm over to increase their lead to 21-12.

Both teams were enterprising in the last quarter with the ball moving through numerous hands and defences holding.

Noord-Kaap prop Conrad Aswegen had made some telling runs and, with minutes to play, he had another; breaking through the defensive line and passing to centre Wium Becker who dived over this time, giving Hufke an easy conversion to narrow the gap to two points with two minutes remaining.

In the dying seconds Noord-Kaap had possession and very nearly took victory away from HTS. But it was the Middelburg team who narrowly won 21-19.

Scorers:

For HTS Middelburg:

Tries: Andries Koen, Dolf Rossouw, Duart Willemse

Pens: Morné Sonnekus 2

For Noord-Kaap:

Tries: Cameron Hufke, Yaseer Daniels, Wium Becker

Conversions: Cameron Hufke 2