Queen’s 150th Sports Festival - Results Day 2

Thu, 01 May 2008 12:24

The big surprise was KES's win over the strong Queen's side while all three Cape Town schools had good wins,

KES vs Queen's, Queen’, 46-26

In a bruising encounter, the visiting King Edward VII School capitalised on a number of defensive lapses to defeat Queen’s College by 46 points to 26, after a convincing 25 – 14 lead at half-time.

An early lapse in concentration by Queen’s in the opening stages of the game, enabled a KES player to gather a fumbled ball and score close to the uprights. The successful conversion and a converted penalty just two minutes later, would probably have unsettled Queen’s and put KES on the front foot, where they remained for much of the game.

Further aggressive interplay between the KES backs and forwards resulted in two additional tries in the first half.

The usual rock-solid defensive capabilities of the Queenians, were found wanting on occasions to allow the strong-running KES centres numerous penetrating forays into Queen's territory. To their credit, however, Queen’s responded to the challenge and scored two well engineered tries of their own, firstly by right wing Leon Makiwane in the ninth minute and later, by centre Aziyena Mandaba just before the half-time whistle, both of which were converted by flyhalf Athenkosi Gxotiwe.

In the opening stages of the second half, KES continued with the same intensity and were rewarded with a try in the third minute, and another in the 10th. While it appeared that KES had taken control of the game, Queen’s showed great character to stage a fightback and enjoyed their best passage of play for the majority of the final 20 minutes of the game. During this time Leon Makiwane showed an amazing turn of pace to score his second and third try of the game.

In the end a fine win for KES while Queen’s will need to re-group for their final clash against Wynberg on Friday.

By Mike Boy

Brief synopsis of other Day 2 matches:

1. Grey PE vs Pretoria Boys, 22-15

Grey appeared to be the form side of the day playing some delightful rugby to deservedly beat a game Pretoria side, both sides displaying a willingness to run the ball, with Grey enjoying better continuity and penetration.

2. Selborne vs DHS, 27-10

The all-round ability of the Selborne side proved too much for a plucky DHS. Good momentum by Selborne and plenty of front foot ball saw them score a number of enterprising tries.

3. Rondebosch vs Dale, 24-15

A good win by the Cape Town outfit, over a competitive Dale side. It looked like one way traffic for Rondebosch who enjoyed a 24 – 0 lead at one point in the game, but the tenacity of the Dalians were rewarded as they staged a determined fightback to narrow the final deficit to only nine points.

4. SACS vs St Andrew’s, 32-15
 
 The heavier SACS forwards paved the way for this good win. A 22-0 SACS lead  was gradually whittled away. A committed resurgence in the latter stages by  St Andrew’s saw the SACS lead narrowed to 25 – 15, before a late surge by the  Cape side gave them a final 32-15 win.

5. Wynberg vs Hangklip, 28-0

A much better showing from Queenstown based Hangklip, who were unlucky not to score on two or three occasions. Wynberg ran out worthy winners in a scrappy game.

Day 1 Results

Queen's  vs Durban High School, 33-10
Pretoria Boys High vs Selborne, 13-7
KES vs St Andrew's, 42-24
Grey PE vs Rondebosch, 28-8
SACS vs Hangklip, 55-0
Wynberg vs Dale, 11-10