FS Cheetahs win with a squeeze
Sat, 28 Jun 2008 18:42
With a much-improved performance from the Lions in their second round Currie Cup clash against the Cheetahs on Saturday, it was the home side that held their head to seal a close victory.
Referee Christee du Preez led with a heavy whistle at Vodacom Park, laying down the law early on for repeated infringements from both sides, enforcing the principle of fair contest.
But it was the Cheetahs who seemed to dominate at the set pieces, with the Lions producing their first decent scrum late in the first half where they finally started to find some momentum.
Earl Rose opened the scoring for the Lions with a penalty in the 2nd minute, which was replied with a Chris Rousouw penalty for the Cheetahs in the 5th minute - this neck-and-neck scoring continued for most of the game, as both sides were evenly matched in most quarters.
Roussouw ran in the first (soft) try of the match in the 12th minute, thanks to a hole in the Lions defense off a scrum inside their 22. Throughout the first half the Gauteng side also battled to attack on their advantage line; the Cheetahs defense swallowing the Lions whole and able to slow the ball down.
The Lions however had two try-scoring opportunities in the first half which went awry - the first with a line break from scrumhalf Jano Vermaak who unwittingly kicked away possession, and the second a breakdown two metres from the Cheetahs line, with the Lions being blown up for not releasing.
The only other near try in the first half was from an excellent backline feed by the Cheetahs, with Fredericks popping a superb back-pass to fullback Fortuin. His offload to wing Nokwe was however deemed forward, after a lengthy TMO referral.
With not much in the game, the Cheetahs held a marginal lead at halftime, 16-12. But it was the Lions who re-grouped and came out firing in the second half - starting with some great scrummaging, but probably due to Kobus Calldo out of the mix for the Cheetahs having been replaced by Phillip Lemmer.
Passes were also sticking well on Lions' hands, though the amounting pressure was just not turning into points. Another missed opportunity came for the Lions when Franco van Der Merwe charged down a kick and chased on, only for the ball to just spill over the dead-ball line.
The Cheetahs managed to maintain the close lead throughout, with Fortuin keeping the territorial advantage with some excellent kicking from hand.
The boys from Bloem looked sure to score in the 76th minute with a significant overlap awaiting but the pass from Powell going away from the blindside.
Lions' captain Cobus Grobbelaar lead from the front, fetching brilliantly at the breakdown but again, the Lions not making full use of their opportunities.
Earl Rose played a sound game for the Lions, maintaining a 6/6 penalty record and being the sole point-scorer for the Lions, whilst Roussouw represented all of the Cheetahs points, who closed the game with a hard-fought four point lead.
The Scorers:
For the FS Cheetahs:
Tries: Roussouw
Con: Roussouw
Pens: Roussouw 5
For the Lions:
Pens: Rose 6
Teams:
Free State Cheetahs: 15 Bevin Fortuin, 14 Eddie Fredericks, 13 JW Jonker, 12 Meyer Bosman, 11 Jongi Nokwe, 10 Chris Rossouw, 9 Neil Powell, 8 Schalk van der Merwe, 7 Hendro Scholtz (captain), 6 Heinrich Brüssow, 5 Barend Pieterse, 4 Flip van der Merwe, 3 Kobus Calldo, 2 Adriaan Strauss, 1 Wian du Preez.
Replacements: 16 Jaco du Toit, 17 Phillip Lemmer, 18 David de Villiers, 19 Kabamba Floors, 19 Jandré Blom, 20 Hendrik Meyer, 21 Fabian Juries.
Lions: 15 Earl Rose, 14 Louis Ludik, 13 Jannie Boshoff, 12 Walter Venter, 11 Dusty Noble, 10 Jaco van
Schalkwyk, 9 Jano Vermaak, 8 Willem Alberts, 7 Franco van der Merwe, 6 Cobus Grobbelaar (captain), 5 Gerhard Mostert, 4 Dewald Senekal, 3 JC Janse van Rensburg, 2 Willie Wepener, 1 Heinke van der Merwe.
Replacements: 16 Ethienne Reynecke, 17 Gert Muller, 18 Anton van Zyl, 19 Wilhelm Koch, 20 Chris Jonck, 21 Jaco Pretorius, 22 Rayno Benjamin.
Referee: Christie du Preez
Touch judges: Gareth Lloyd-Jones, Lourens van der Merwe
TMO: Michael Cupido
