Wynberg maintains Grey High winning streak, St Andrew’s tops Graeme

Wynberg Boys’ High held on for yet another victory over their Eastern Cape rivals, Grey High, in a pulsating finish to their King Price Derby Series encounter at the Kolisi Field, in Gqeberha, on Saturday.

The Cape Town outfit must take full credit for their 32-27 win, after managing the game well in the second half when they played into the teeth of the strong westerly wind, which was blowing down the field.

While Grey crossed for three tries after the break, Wynberg was able to get over the whitewash twice to hold onto the lead they had built up by halftime (20-7).

Those tries earned them a 10-point advantage (32-22) with just minutes remaining, but they had to withstand a desperate late surge by Grey, in which fullback Meyer Prinsloo was prominent.

As time began to run out, Prinsloo started an attacking move which resulted in prop Daniel Naude crossing for a try to make it 32-27 with a minute remaining.

Receiving the ball after the kick-off, Prinsloo made another scything run down the left touchline, but this time Wynberg was able to snuff out the danger by tackling him into touch. They secured the lineout ball and kicked it out to register a memorable win.

Inside centre Yaqeen Ahmed was the standout backline player for Wynberg, capitalising on a solid display up front by the forwards, led by burly prop Luqobo Makwedini.

Ahmed struck two penalties in the first 11 minutes and then put over a brilliant touchline conversion after a long period of pressure saw right-wing Albert Lourens go over in the righthand corner.

As Wynberg continued to apply pressure, using the wind to their advantage, they were awarded a penalty try, which gave them a comfortable cushion at the break. At that stage, Grey was also down to 13 men because of two yellow cards.

In the first half, the home scored through prop Ross Atkinson, with his try converted by Prinsloo.

When they turned, Grey worked their way back into the game through a penalty by Ray-Dylan Wilkinson and then Naude’s first try, converted by Prinsloo, to close the gap to three points.

Wynberg, though, was often able to find a way through and tries by captain Jaythen Orange and wing Chad Campbell cancelled out further Grey scores by centre Bradley Myburgh and Naude.

It eventually allowed the Capetonians to secure a narrow, but well-merited win, extending their unbeaten run against Grey to six years, with two more years lost to Covid-19.

In Makhanda, St Andrew’s College delivered a powerful defensive effort after trailing 3-10 in the first half to defeat their city rivals Graeme College 17-10 on Graeme’s Somerset Field.

Despite conceding an early penalty, slotted by Will Stevens, Graeme controlled most of the first 20 minutes and used their territorial advantage to run in two unconverted tries by lock Akho Ntonjeni.

The visitors then fought their way back into the match and, by retaining possession for longer periods, they were able to send Sivatho Mjali over for a converted try, which made it 10-10 at the break.

The second half was extremely tense, but St Andrew’s took a crucial lead with a well-worked try after Oli Johns put through a perfect grubber for Ali de Kock to score. Stevens added the conversion.

The remainder of the game was played in typical derby day fashion, with players from both teams throwing everything at each other.

The Graeme backline often looked dangerous, but St Andrew’s was well-organised and committed in defence, and that team effort saw them hold on for victory.

SCORERS

Wynberg 32 (20) – Tries: Albert Lourens, penalty try, Jaythen Orange, Chad Campbell. Penalties: Yaqeen Ahmed (2). Conversions: Ahmed (2); Grey High 27 (7) – Tries: Ross Atkinson, Daniel Naude (2), Bradley Myburgh. Penalty: Ray-Dylan Wilkinson. Conversions: Meyer Prinsloo (2).

St Andrew’s 17 (10) – Tries: Sivatho Mjali, Ali de Kock. Penalty: Will Stevens. Conversions: Stevens (2). Graeme 10 (10) – Tries: Akho Tonjeni (2).