Westville down Kearsney in see-saw battle

Westville hosted Kearsney for the last fixture of the season, with both teams prepared to play attractive rugby which was enjoyed by a big crowd in perfect conditions.

Kearsney scored their first try within 40 seconds after receiving the kick off, producing some good interplay between backs and forwards. Fullback Jacques Odendaal scored, with James Sutherland converting for an early 7-0 lead.

Kearsney dominated the next 15 minutes, during which they had tries disallowed on two occasions.

In the 20th minute the hosts had a break away from the line-out and a player bundled into touch. Kearsney had an overthrow which Westville collected and dived over for a converted try. The score was 7-all.

Kearsney responded immediately from the kick off as hooker Daniel Cherry ripped the ball from the opposition maul. He fed wing Robbie Koenig who linked with fullback Odendaal to score in the left corner and regain the lead at 12-7.

Westville responded with a converted try to restore the lead at 14-12. Westville attacked down the middle soon after the kick-off and forced a penalty at a resulting break down to add another three points. The half time score was 17-12 to Westville.

Kearsney started the second half with a flurry but discipline cost them points and a yellow card. They were rewarded though when flyhalf Taine Muirhead executed a planned corner kick. Kearsney managed to turn it over and move it down the backline for Sutherland to dive over to level scores 17-all.

Not long after that Westville capitalised on another line-out overthrow from Kearsney for a converted try and 24-17 lead.

The rest of the match was evenly contested with Westville adding another penalty for the final score of 27-17.

By Sue Miles of Working Words