Queen’s win at home
Hudson Park came up from East London to take on Queen's in their mountain fastness but the home side ran out 35-20 winners.
The match at The Recreation Ground, in Queenstown on Saturday 30 May was important to both sides as they were keen to get back to winning ways, after suffering defeats the previous weekend.
Hudson Park won the toss and played with a strong wind at their backs for the first half.
The hosts, however, were first to open the scoring after Justin Kuyler slotted a penalty in the opening minutes for an early 3-0 lead. Hudson went on the offensive after miscommunication at the kick off and applied pressure on the hosts' line after been awarded a series of penalties. After sustained pressure on the hosts' line the visitors opened their account with a converted try after a number of good carries from their forwards. Queen’s was then awarded a penalty and Kuyler was successful with another three points for the home team.
Hudson used the wind to good effect in the first half and enjoyed the majority of field position and possession. Hudson after applying pressure were awarded a penalty and opted for a kick to the corner and set up a driving maul which saw their tight head score the second try for the visitors. The conversion was successful and Hudson enjoyed a 12-6 lead. The first try for the home team was scored after Foslag made a good run from a misdirected kick and then some good continuity between the forwards and backs saw Bulela Sotyelelwa crash over for an unconverted try. Hudson was the next to score after their fullback slotted a 40m drop goal. Queen’s had opportunities to convert pressure into points but a ball dropped over the try line and missed penalty saw the hosts down 15-11 at the break.
The second half started, much the same as the first, and Hudson enjoyed the majority of possession in the opening stages. Queen’s then managed to win back some field position and after some good patient, phase play Gareth Heidtmann opened the scoring for the hosts with an unconverted try. The third try from the hosts came from the kickoff and a poor kick return was punished. Juan du Randt made a line break and played Mihlali Peter who scored. Kuyler was successful with extra two points.
Hudson, never a team to lie down, managed to score after a series of penalties and that saw the visitors score from a driving maul. The conversion was ruled not to be successful by the referee and Queen’s enjoyed a narrow 23-20 lead. The next score in this close encounter came after Frank van Heerden was high tackled by the last defender and saw the referee award a penalty try which was converted by Kuyler. The hosts would have the last say in the game after a great chip ahead by Yaw Penxa was gathered by Van Heerden for the home team’s fifth and final try. The conversion was wide and Queen’s won the match 35-20.
Both teams showed passages of brilliant play; however the coaches will be slightly concerned with the number of errors that their teams made on attack and defence. Queen’s will now shift their focus to next weekend when they take on St Andrew’s in Queenstown.
From John Duncan
