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Griffons glide to victory

The Griffons put in an excellent performance by running in seven tries to claim a comfortable 47-20 win over Border.

It was all too easy for the youngsters from the Northern Free State who blew their coastal opponents away after holding a 42-6 lead at halftime.

Border took an early lead through the boot of Morgan Steyn in fourth minute. The lead lasted less than a minute as the Griffons struck back immediately and took the lead with an excellent try by lock Eric Knoetze in the fifth minute. Jaywinn Juries made no mistake with the conversion and added the extra points.

A 12th minute solo effort from centre Johann Vermaak saw the midfielder run 45 metres to score under the posts. Juries added his second

conversion of the game to extend his side's lead to 11 points. The 11-point deficit was cut to eight points in the 15th minute as Steyn kept the coasal men within reach of their opponents.

Border were reduced to 14 men when scrumhalf Siyamthanda Mgubo was sent to the sin bin for not retreating the required 10 metres. As a result, Knoetze grabbed his second five-pointer in the 23rd minute under fortunate circumstances as an attempted penalty kick by Juries rebounded off the upright before the lanky lock brushed aside the Border defence to extend the Griffons' lead.

Fullback Ezrick Alexander added a brace of tries in the 25th and 30th minutes of the game as the Griffons made easy work of their opponents. He scored the try of match when his excellent footwork cut through the Border defence with consummate ease.

Griffons captain, Francois Stemmet, showed off impressive strength as he muscled his way over to add his side's sixth try of the match in the 33rd minute.

Griffons led 42-6 at the break.

The second half wasn't as exciting as the first but Juries, the impressive Griffons scrumhalf, managed to score a try of his own in the 52nd minute through a cunning blindside run off the base of the scrum.

Border managed to bring some respectability to the score when left-winger Jerry Danquah and fullback Courtney Winnaar managed to get a try each in the 65th and 68th minutes respectively. Danquah finished off a backline move after outside centre Avelo Jubase put him through a gap and the speedster made no mistake. Winnaar showed his opposite number, Alexander, a clean pair of heels to score the second try. Steyn and Winnaar added the extra points on both occasions.

Despite conceding two late tries, the Griffons had done enough to walk away with an impressive 47-20 victory.

Man of the Match: There were a few impressive performances for the Griffons. Both Eric Knoetze at lock and Ezrick Alexander at fullback showed individual brilliance when scoring their respective tries. However, it was the livewire scrumhalf, Jaywinn Juries, who got the nod. He was at the heart of every attack, provided excellent service to his backline and marshalled his forwards well.

Scorers:

Griffons:

Tries: Knoetze 2, Vermaak, Alexander 2, Stemmet, Juries

Con: Juries 6

Border:

Tries: Danquah, Winnaar

Cons: Steyn, Winnaar

Pen: Steyn 2

Teams:

Griffons:  15 Ezrick Alexander, 14 Mlumzana Nkala, 13 Kobus Kleyn, 12 Johann Vermaak, 11 Siya Ngxesha, 10 Luan James,

9 Jaywinn Juries, 8 Francois Stemmet, 7 Henry Searle, 6 Nathan Kemp, 5 Erik Knoetze, 4 Wesley McMaster, 3 Niel van Rensburg, 2 Itumeleng Nick Fortein, 1 Neo Mohapi.

Replacements: 16 Harold Hills, 17 Stephanus Vermaak, 18 Adam van Wyk, 19 Juan-Pierre Kalp, 20 Jason Olivier, 21 Jonathan April, 22 Johan van Zyl.

Border: 15 Courtney Winnaar, 14    Luyolo Khuse, 13 Avelo Jubase, 12 David Brits, 11 Jerry Danquah, 10 Morgan Steyn, 9 Siyamthanda Mgubo, 8 Jason Steyn, 7 Pierre Bester, 6 Alno Schultz, 5 Henning Coetzee, 4 Robert Lyons, 3 Curtley du Preez, 2 Sango Mtotywa, 1 Tango Balekile.

Replacements: 16 Adrian Greig, 17 Kuhle Makhoabane, 18 Siyavuya Mlwayo, 19 Nico Grobler, 20 Reinhardt Engelbrecht, 21 Michael Brink, 22 Yamkela Nyalambisa.

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