Cheetahs in narrow derby win
Fri, 03 Sep 2010 18:56
The Kimberley derby was a bruising affair. (c) Gallo
The Free State Cheetahs made it two from two against Griquas in Currie Cup action this year, with the Men from Bloemfontein claiming a 33-28 win over the Peacock Blues in Kimberley on Friday afternoon.
Having beaten their neighbours by 33-26 last time out - back in July - the Cheetahs would have been a determined bunch heading to Kimberley this week, especially as the race for play-off places starts gathering some serious momentum.
That said, Griquas now have a mountain to climb to reach the semifinals... whilst the Cheetahs secured their position in the Top Four of the 2010 Currie Cup.
The Cheetahs did not play well in the first half but looked like a totally different team after the half-time break with quality rugby and impressive defence.
The first real exciting play of the match was when Griquas right-wing Rocco Jansen ran around his direct opponent, Springbok speedster Jongi Nokwe.
The home side then piled on the pressure and received a penalty which flyhalf Naas Olivier successfully slotted for a 6-0 lead. Earlier, the Griquas skipper kicked his first penalty goal from 42 metres out.
Griquas again went on the run after a Free State handling error and with clean service from his scrumhalf Sarel Pretorius, Olivier kicked a good 50-metre drop-goal for a 9-0 lead - it was all the Peacock Blues on their home ground.
But the Cheetahs bounced back when powerhouse No.8 Ashley Johnson dived over next to the uprights. From an attacking scrum, fullback Hennie Daniller come close before Johnson grabbed his chance.
Louis Strydom converted to reduce the deficit to 7-9 on the stroke of the first quarter. He later added a penalty for the lead - an advantage which the Cheetahs did not concede again.
With Griquas strong on attack in the Cheetahs half, Pretorius knocked on from where Daniller counter attacked. Johnson handled and sent Nokwe away for a great score.
The Bok winger had a lot to do and got past three defenders for a try that silenced the crowd who only seconds earlier were hoping for a Griqua score.
Strydom's conversion earned his team a 17-9 lead at the break - a crucial, and telling, advantage.
Where the first 40 minutes produced little action, the second half was action packed.
Two Strydom penalties stretched the Free State lead to 23-9 before Olivier pulled five points back with a try eight minutes into the second stanza. Riaan Viljoen could not add the extra two but Griquas were back in the game for two minutes before Nokwe scored his second try from a nice inside pass from inside centre Meyer Bosman.
With Strydom's conversion it seemed if the match was out of Griquas' grasp, but the hosts fought back with a try by lock Cecil Kemp. Olivier converted which made it 33-21 to Free State.
Griquas had all the possession in the last 10 minutes and had several chances to score, but the Cheetahs defended brilliantly and kept their hosts out until two minutes before the end when No.8 Burger Schoeman finally dotted down. It was, however, too late as they ran out of time to get onto the scoreboard again.
Man of the Match: Jongi Nokwe did superbly in both of his tries - he sure is a try-scorer of note. Sarel Pretorius was a usual menace - despite his knock-on in the lead-up to Nokwe's first try. Our Man of the Match, however, is Bok tourist and powerhouse No.8 Ashley Johnson, who is having a storming season.
The scorers:
For Griquas:
Tries: Olivier, Kemp, Schoeman
Cons: Olivier 2
Pens: Olivier 2
DG: Olivier
For the Cheetahs:
Tries: Johnson, Nokwe 2
Cons: Strydom 3
Pens: Strydom 3, Bosman
The teams:
Griquas:
15 Riaan Viljoen, 14 Rocco Jansen, 13 Wilmaure Louw, 12 Barry Geel, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Naas Olivier (captain), 9 Sarel Pretorius, 8 Burger Schoeman, 7 Justin Downey, 6 Rohan Kitshoff, 5 Cecil Kemp, 4 Luvuyiso Lusaseni, 3 Jean Botha, 2 Ryno Barnes, 1 Steph Roberts.
Replacements: 16 Simon Westraadt, 17 Jacobie Adriaanse, 18 Edwin Hewitt, 19 Johan van Deventer, 20 Marnus Hugo, 21 Richard Lawson/Jean Stemmet, 22 Rudi Vogt.
Free State Cheetahs: 15 Hennie Daniller, 14 Philip Snyman, 13 Robert Ebersohn, 12 Meyer Bosman, 11 Jongi Nokwe, 10 Louis Strydom, 9 Tewis De Bruyn, 8 Ashley Johnson, 7 Philip Van Der Walt, 6 Hendro Scholtz, 5 Waltie Vermeulen, 4 Francois Uys, 3 Kobus Calldo, 2 Adriaan Strauss (captain), 1 Coenie Oosthuizen.
Replacements: 16 Skipper Badenhorst, 17 WP Nel, 18 Izak van der Westhuizen, 19 Kabamba Floors, 20 Tertius Carse, 21 Sias Ebersohn, 22 Riaan Smit.
Referee: Sindile
Mayende
Assistant referees: François Veldsman, De Goede Haasbroek
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