Kearsney too good for College
Both teams showed their intent to give the ball some air and it was an entertaining encounter enjoyed by a big crowd.
Kearsney slotted a penalty by James Sutherland to take the lead after 10 minutes of play. They continued to exert pressure and were rewarded with their first try, courtesy of tight head prop Matt Heard, from a pick and go which followed a collapsed lineout maul.
Sutherland converted to take a 10-0 lead after 15 minutes.
Kearsney dominated the next five minutes of play and displayed some attractive and effective inter play by the backs and forwards. Eventually captain Dylan Richardson dived over from an orchestrated lineout move for Sutherland to convert, stretching the lead to 17-0.
It was not long before Richardson scored his second try of the match, which came from a turnover on a College lineout where prop Heard showed good awareness and plucked the ball from a spilled attempt. He made good yardage before off-loading to ever-present Richardson. He still had a lot of work to do, but he over-powered the defence, to dive over under the posts.
Sutherland converted and Kearsney lead 24-0 at the half time whistle.
College refused to lie down and immediately scored at the start of the second half from a line break which was converted to shrink the hosts’ lead to 24-7.
Kearsney number eight Richardson had a stormer of a match and scored his third try after Kearsney enjoyed some good phase play. He found himself in the left-hand side channel and dealt with a number of College defenders, before diving over in the left corner for an unconverted try.
Kearsney enjoyed a comfortable 29-7 lead and were somewhat unlucky not to add to their score, but good defence prevented the hosts’ from scoring more tries.
Kearsney was awarded another penalty after sustained pressure. Fullback Jacques Odendaal converted a difficult kick from close to the touch line, to stretch the lead further to 32-7. College attacked furiously for the last four minutes of the match, but the hosts’ defended well and the final scored remained at 32-7.
The entire Kearsney team enjoyed a memorable match, but outstanding players were Dylan Richardson, Matt Heard, Ross Taylor, Sibu Sangweni, Taine Muirhead, Jacques Odendaal and Robbie Koenig.
The scorers:
For Kearsney:
Trries: Heard, Richardson 3
Cons: Sutherland 3
Pens: Sutherland, Odendaal
Maritzburg College:
Try: 1
Con: 1
Teams:
Kearsney: 15 Jacques Odendaal, 14 Brendan Albertse, 13 James Sutherland, 12 Grant Sander, 11 Robbie Koenig, 10 Taine Muirhead, 9 Ayron Kayser, 8 Dylan Richardson (captain), 7 Sibu Sangweni, 6 Taine Polzi, 5 Torin Tedder, 4 Ross Taylor, 3 Matthew Heard, 2 Daniel Cherry, 1 Ross Parsons.
Maritzburg College: 15 Jaco Truter, 14 Nkondlo Radebe, 13 Njabulo Mjara, 12 Yamkile Tetyana, 11 Matthew Squires, 10 R Collyer, 9 Philani Simimane, 8 Damian Walden, 7 B Nel, 6 Jarryd van der Linde, 5 Dylan Jones, 4 L Cameron-Mackintosh, 3 Phelelani Zuma, 2 Fezokuhle Mbatha, 1 E Hodgson
Source: Sue Miles
Photo Credits: Tracey van den Aardweg
