Kearsney Win Methodist Derby 36-31
Kearsney accounted for the first points with a Taine Muirhead penalty and 3-0 led after six minutes of play. The hosts dominated for the next 10 minutes, but bad decision-making and spilled chances kept scorers at bay.
Their first try was spectacular when fullback Robbie Koenig broke the line from a rehearsed backline move; many forwards and backs contributed to the momentum with wing Gcina Gumede eventually diving over in the left corner. Muirhead converted.
The visitors found some momentum of their own and collected a pressure kick and scored in the right-hand corner after some individual brilliance for a 5-10 deficit.
Kearsney applied good pressure from the kick-off and eventually scored from a chosen scrum in place of an awarded penalty for a dangerous tackle on wing Gumede. Ironically the same Gumede scored on the other side of the field from a brilliantly worked backline move. Muirhead converted for a 17-7 half-time lead.
The visitors scored the first points of the second half, somewhat against run of play, when they collected a spilled ball and capitalised on a disorganised defence for a seven-point bonus, narrowing the deficit to 12-17. More of the same followed when Saints scored a converted try from yet another Kearsney error and, for the first time in the match, took a 19-17 lead.
Kearsney recovered and immediately hit back from a quickly taken penalty. A clever punt was followed up by Koenig and, as he was about to collect to dive over, a Saints defender played him too early. The referee awarded a penalty try for the hosts to regain the lead at 24-19.
Kearsney played with more spark and soon added another converted try, courtesy lock Jordan Morum from structured play from a scrum launch. Kearsney led 31-19, with 14 minutes to play, before scoring another unconverted try when Muirhead and Koenig combined well with a quickly taken line-out to stretch the lead to 36-19.
Credit to the visitors who didn’t give up and were eventually rewarded with an unconverted try after sustained pressure on attack.
With the score at 36-24 and almost on time, the visitors attacked with purpose and Kearsney lost a defender to a controversial yellow card. Saints made most of the opportunity and scored a converted try for the final score of 36-31 in favour of the hosts.
Kearsney enjoyed the best of possession and territory stakes but will be disappointed due to many missed opportunities and poor discipline at times.
This Saturday Kearsney 1st XV will play Hilton at 15.00 on The Stott, as part of Kearsney’s Founders Weekend celebrations.
By Sue Miles of Working Words
Photographer: Tracey van den Aardweg
