Fourteen-man Kings shock Cheetahs
Trailing 16-19 at half-time and with centre JP du Plessis red-carded in the 45th minute for punching an opponent, the Kings stormed back to record their first win of the season.
Showing great character, despite being outscored by four tries to two, the Kings overcame some strong odds and was far more accurate in the execution of their gameplan after the break.
The Kings' scrum was totally dominant in the first half, while the Cheetahs came back strongly after the break. The Kings' maul was another strong weapon.
There was some unnecessary niggle that threatened to spoil a fine performance by the Kings.
However, they thoroughly deserve the victory.
Apart from their set-piece concerns, the Cheetahs' handling was shocking. At times they gave the appearance of being arrogant with their lack of respect for the ball.
The Cheetahs needed a win to remain in touch of the playoff positions and now face a tough challenge trying to qualify.
Scott van Breda opened the scoring with an eighth-minute penalty, after a power-scrum from the Kings forced the Cheetahs into retreat.
Minutes later the visitors were caught offside and Van Breda stepped up again to slot a second penalty to make it 6-0.
It took 17 minutes for the Cheetahs to open their account and it came via a try from flank Gerhard Olivier, who fell over the tryline from a powerful driving maul. Fred Zeilinga converted.
It was not long after that scrumhalf Shaun Venter dummied his way over from another maul to notch his team's second try. Zeilinga slotted the easy conversion and it was 14-6 after the first quarter.
But EP struck back with a superb try from flying wing Luther Obi who burst through the Free State defence to score untouched under the posts. Van Breda added the two points to reduce the deficit to one point.
But a wild pass at the restart by Kings scrumhalf Enrico Acker eventually resulted in fullback Clayton Blommetjies collecting a kick ahead from centre Rayno Benjamin to touch down for his side's third try.
A Van Breda penalty got it back to a tight three-point margin (19-16) on the stroke of half-time.
Discipline cost the Kings in the first half and they could not get it right early in the second either – as centre JP du Plessis was shown a red card for landing punch in the face of an opponent. That happened in the 45th minute and was a massive setback for the home side, but one which they turned in their favour.
The handling errors on both sides mounted for no obvious reason other than what could have been over-eagerness.
The game needed a measure calm and the Kings found it despite being that man down.
Flank Paul Schoeman powered through a tackle on the halfway-line made the space out wide for wing Siyanda Grey who took the pass and sped over to score his second try of the season. Van Breda was on target with the conversion to put EP ahead by 23-19 after 57 minutes.
Three more Van Breda penalties saw the Kings extend their lead to 32-19 and the small home crowd started sniffing a possible win with only 10 minutes remaining in the clash.
Sergeal Petersen scored a bonus point try for the Cheetahs with two minutes remaining, but it was not enough to deny the home team their win.
Man of the match: Clayton Blommetjies and Fred Zeilinga tries their best to get the Cheetahs on the front foot, Gerhard Olivier also had his moments. Luther Obi had a decent game, but ruled himself out of contention with his off-the-ball antics. Scott van Breda, with a flawless kicking record that includes six penalties and two conversions, certainly came close – as did bruising No.8 Tim Agaba. However, lock Steven Sykes and flank Thembelani Bholi were the epitome of the determination displayed a by Kings team desperate for their first win and share our award.
The scorers:
For the Eastern Province Kings:
Tries: Obi, Grey
Cons: Van Breda 2
Pens: Van Breda 4
For the Free State Cheetahs:
Tries Olivier, Venter, Blommetjies, Petersen
Cons: Zeilinga 2
Red card: JP du Plessis (Eastern Province Kings, 45 – foul play, punching)
Teams:
Eastern Province Kings: 15 Scott van Breda, 14 Siyanda Grey, 13 JP du Plessis, 12 Tim Whitehead (captain), 11 Luther Obi, 10 Karlo Aspeling, 9 Enrico Acker, 8 Tim Agaba, 7 Thembelani Bholi, 6 Paul Schoeman, 5 Steven Sykes, 4 Stefan Willemse, 3 Tom Botha, 2 Martin Ferreira, 1 Lizo Gqoboka.
Replacements: 16 Edgar Marutlulle, 17 Schalk Ferreira, 18 Simon Kerrod, 19 Cornell Hess, 20 Jacques Engelbrecht, 21 Dwayne Kelly, 22 Elgar Watts.
Free State Cheetahs: 15 Clayton Blommetjies, 14 Sergeal Petersen, 13 Francois Venter, 12 Rayno Benjamin, 11 Cornal Hendricks, 10 Fred Zeilinga, 9 Shaun Venter, 8 Niell Jordaan, 7 Teboho Mohoje (captain), 6 Gerhard Olivier, 5 Reniel Hugo, 4 Armandt Koster, 3 Luan de Bruin, 2 Jacques du Toit, 1 Burrie Uys.
Replacements: 16 Elandre Huggett, 17 Theunis Nieuwoudt, 18 Francois Uys, 19 Henco Venter, 20 Freddy Ngoza, 21 Ruan van Rensburg, 22 Sias Ebersohn.
Referee: Quinton Immelman
Assistant referees: Archie Sehlako, Jacques Nieuwenhuis
TMO: Christie du Preez
