Voortrekker leave Witteberg behind
Comments
0
Bethlehem Voortrekker pulled away from rivals Witteberg to claim their FNB Classic Clash 18-3 on Saturday.
It was the ninth consecutive victory for Bethlehem Voortrekker, but they by no means had things all their own way as the hosts put up a stern fight in the first half.
The Voortrekker team had a significant weight disadvantage in their forward pack, but still managed to dominate their opponents in the scrum and line-out.
The match was tied at 3-3 towards the end of a highly competitive first half, but the visitors struck just before half-time, and that proved the crucial blow as Witteberg were not able to score any further points in the match.
The atmosphere at Witteberg was electric, with a crowd of 5000 people there to watch the match, which was preceded by parades from both schools.
After a tense opening to the match which saw the team exchange penalties, with Witteberg flyhalf Tiaan Schoeman landing what would be their only points of the match and Voortrekker scrumhalf Etianne Bekker slotting a penalty of his own.
In the last minute before the half-time break Voortrekker flank Sakkie Mollentze secured a turnover, and it was inside centre Marco Labuschagne who got over for the try which put them 10-3 up.
The second half brought a more expansive game with the players settling into a rhythm early.
Witteberg used kicks to get in behind a very tight Voortrekker defence, but couldn’t manage to regain the possession. Voortrekker started to penetrate through the middle with their captain Donovan Bouwer and lock Burger Marais taking charge.
Witteberg came out hard in the second half as they looked to work their way back into the game, but Voortrekker were able to add to their lead with another penalty from Bekker before Mollentze scored their second try from a driving maul to put the game beyond the home side.
Although Voortekker won by 15 points in the end to extend their dominance over Witteberg, it was a highly competitive match which was a lot closer than the scoreline suggests.
The scorers:
For Witteberg:
Pen: Tiaan schoonraad
For Bethlehem Voortrekker:
Tries: Marco Labuschagne, Sakkie Mollentze
Pens: Etienne Bekker 2
Con: Bekker
Teams:
Witteberg: 15 Ruco Beneke, 14 Wian Minnaar, 13 Jason Roux, 12 Rudolf van Biljon, 11 Darryl Wilson, 10 Tiaan Schoonraad, 9 Dean Bubb (captain), 8 Pieter Jordaan, 7 Liamzer James, 6 Cobus Gunter, 5 Cronje Meiring, 4 Hennie Coetzee, 3 Handus Botha, 2 Stephan Jordaan, 1 Nico Nel.
Replacements: 16 Nico Van Rensburg, 17 Tumi Ramaseli, 18 Nico Dorfling, 19 Gerhard Viviers, 20 Andries Strydom, 21 Dehandro Mostert, 22 Tsepi Mofokeng, 23 Theunis Goosen.
Bethlehem Voortrekker: 15 Edrich Victor, 14 Pieter van Zyl, 13 Donovan Bouwer (captain), 12 Marco Labushchagne, 11 JJ Lombaard, 10 Bertus Kleynhans, 9 Etienne Becker, 8 Michael Janse van Rensburg, 7 Juanrick Eagar, 6 Sakkie Mollentze, 5 Eben Claasen, 4 Burger Marais, 3 Andre Claasen, 2 Tiaan van Zyl, 1 Pieter Kleynhans.
Replacements: 16 Janco van Zyl, 17 Ruan van Niekerk, 18 Eddie Molilo, 19 Gert van Wyk, 20 Johnathan Allison, 21 George Badenhorst, 22 Nico Charilaou.
Referee: Vusi Msibi
ADVERTISEMENT
