Queen's battle against Cambridge

Match Report

The Queen's 1st XV continued on their winning way but made heavy weather of their 34-19 victory over Cambridge un East London on Saturday afternoon.

The visitors appeared to show signs of fatigue as they struggled to round off enterprising scoring opportunities.

Playing into a strong wind in the first half, Queen's applied early pressure and were first to score when centre Leandro Lee received quick second-phase ball from broken play.

Their second try came as a result of an excellent counterattack from right wing Mayibuye Ndwandwa, who was able to link with his scrumhalf Soso Socikwa, who passed inside to eighthman Mbuyisa Mnci to score.

Cambridge replied with three well-taken penalties by centre L Mauer who had a fine day with the boot, scoring 14 of his team's points.

Queen's held onto a narrow 12-9 lead at half-time, but would have been relishing the thought of playing with the wind in their favour for the remaining 30 minutes.

An excellent solo break by Socikwa from a scrum on the half-way line gave Queen's their first try in the second half. This was followed by a well-worked try, scored by centre Setu Skepe who chased a well-placed grubber lick from Mnci and was able to pounce on the ball and score.

At this point it appeared that the writing was on the wall for Cambridge, but to their credit their defence held firm and some very gutsy play was seen from their smaller forwards.

The tactic by the Queen's backline of employing there "long skip pass", [proved futile on four or five occasions, robbing them of possible scoring opportunities.

One such pass led to an interception try by the Cambridge right wing M Mrwashu.

The final Queen's try was initiated by some excellent footwork by replacement centre Kathrada Ntabeni who was able to create space on the outside for Ndwandwa to score to take the final tally to 34-19 on Queen's favour.

Queen's will obviously be analysing their performance very carefully, and their coaches will certainly expect much more continuity and composure as they prepare for the final hurdle of the season against arch rivals Dale College.

Scorers:

For Queen's:
Tries: Leandro Lee, Mbuyisa Mnci, Soso Socikwa, Setu Skepe, Masbuye Ndwandwa
Cons: Lionel Cronje 3
Pen: Lionel Cronje

For Cambridge:
Try: M Mrwashu
Con: L Maueer
Pens: L Mauer 4

By Mike Boy