Gutsy Kearsney battles back to down St Stithians at the death
When the final whistle sounded on Stott Field on Saturday, St Stithians College might have been left wondering how they had lost. Kearsney College, though, celebrated a last-gasp 26-25 King Price Derby Series victory on their Founders Day.
“It was not a great performance, but a fantastic result,” Kearsney coach Grant Bashford told SuperSport Schools Plus afterwards.
“If I’m honest with you. that’s probably our worst performance of the season. To get out of jail and win like that shows character.
“It’s a young group. We’ve known it’s going to be like this this year, but a win like that does so much for next year. Also, for the four matrics that are in the team, that’s a nice way to send them off.”
After opening the scoring with a scintillating counterattacking try from deep in their half, which was finished behind the poles by Bukho Hlwatika, the One-Stripe ended up playing catch-up for much of the contest.
Unfortunately for Kearsney, they lost their influential fullback and kicker, Lwazi Mbebe, to an injury shortly after taking the lead. That put pressure on the shoulders of vice-captain Doan Nel, who took over the kicking duties.
In the eighth minute, St Stithians struck back from a blindside move. Loosehead prop Ethan Coetzee was stopped just short of the try line, but he pulled off a fantastic pass inside to the big lock, Luke Thorrold, who spun and twisted his way over for five points.
Kearsney was struggling to string passes together, with Saints contesting every ball in the loose, which upset the home side’s rhythm. They looked out of sorts.
A couple of minutes before the break, Thorrold, a big man with a great engine, grabbed his second try, forcing his way over from close range after the St Stithians’ forwards had laid siege to the Kearsney line. It looked like a simple conversion kick, but it missed the target, leaving the visitors 15-7 to the good.
Right on halftime, Doan Nel had an opportunity to reduce the deficit to five points, but his kick was wide right.
Reflecting on his halftime talk, Kearsney coach Grant Bashford said: “I told them we had somehow played our worst half of the season. It felt like we had defended the whole time. We overplayed in the first 20 minutes, playing too much in our half and not turning them.
“The second half wasn’t that much better, to be honest with you. We showed bits and pieces. We had quite a few line breaks that we didn’t finish, but we hung in there.
“If we finished one or two of those line breaks, I think the result could have been a lot different. But we didn’t play well, and we won, which shows character.”
In the fifth minute of the second half, the One-Stripe had the old boys up on their feet cheering when they scored an electrifying try. It began with a scum on halfway, wide on the left.
With the ball heading down the backline, Hlwatika was played into a half-gap and, as he was scragged, he released a chicken-wing pass to left-wing Lwandle Mkhize, who had looped around. He feinted in, then out, before hitting the gas and speeding clear of the covering tacklers to finish the move with a dive in the right-hand corner.
Nel made the challenging kick count and St Stithians led by only one point. They were next to score, though.
With flyhalf Wilson briefly off the field, inside centre Reece Hubner sent a penalty between the posts to increase the gap to four points.
Kearsney, then, thought they were away for a try after the impressive Keanu Williamson sliced through the St Stithians’ defence, but his pass to flyhalf Jayden Jonsson was adjudged to be forward.
Instead, Saints struck again. An innocuous-looking chip from flyhalf Wilson, who was back on the field, sat up invitingly for outside centre Sicelo Sakawuli, who snatched it out of the air and spun away from Buhlo Hlwatika. The Kearsney wing recovered to drag down Sakawuli just inside the 22, but Wilson was on the centre’s shoulder to take a short pass and accelerate away for a try just to the left of the poles.
He also added the extras to make it 25-14 to the visitors.
With five minutes remaining, Kearsney gave themselves a glimmer of hope. Eighthman Nhlanhla Ndlovu was almost over from a five-metre lineout, but captain Simanye Mlakalaka provided the finish.
This time, though, Doan Nel was unable to convert from a position similar to where Mkhize had scored at the start of the half. There were six points in it.
With the scoreboard showing time up, Kearsney launched one last desperate attack. Just shy of the Saints’ 22, left-wing Mkhize was brought down. But, as he fell near the touchline, he flipped the ball up, out of the back of his hand.
Nel, on his inside, grabbed the pass. As he was tackled, he popped the ball nside to Williamson, who was met five metres out. He kept his legs pumping, extended his body as he was brought to ground, and forced the ball down over the try line in a tackle.
The pressure shifted to Doan Nel. He was faced with a challenging conversion.
When he struck the ball, it appeared to be to the left of the uprights, but then it faded left to right and bisected the posts. Nel raised his arms and Kearsney’s supporters charged onto the field in celebration.
Not so fast! Although time was up on the scoreboard, the referee said there was a little more to go. St Stithians won the ball back from the kick off, but when flyhalf Wilson tried a kick out wide to the left, the home side fielded the ball, and Jayden Jonsson put the finishing touches on an improbable victory by hoofing it into touch.
It truly was a great escape. It also brought to an end a run of four Kearsney losses against top opposition – Maritzburg College, Westville Boys’ High, Durban High School (DHS), and Michaelhouse – in matches in which the scores had probably not done Kearsney justice.
“College, at Goldstone’s, on their Old Boys’ Day was massive. There were probably 15 000 people there,” Bashford said.
“We were at Westville on their Old Boys’ Day. In both of those games, despite the final score, we were in them for long time, so this will hopefully galvanise us and give us a little more confidence going into next year.”
Looking back on the season, he concluded: “We haven’t had the power, so we have had to play a bit like Japan, but it’s exciting to play like that, as well.”
Scores
Kearsney College 26 (7) – Tries: Bukho Hlwatika, Lwandle Mkhize, Simanye Mlakalaka, Keanu Williamson. Conversions: Doan Nel (2), Lwazi Mbebe; St Stithians College 25 (15) – Tries: Luke Thorrold (2), Oliver Wilson. Conversions: Oliver Wilson (2). Penalties: Oliver Wilson, Reece Hubner.
Results
u19 – Kearsney I 26 St Stithians I 25; Kearsney II 31 St Stithians II 0; Kearsney III 75 St Stithians III 0; Kearsney IV 60 St Stithians IV 5; Kearsney V 57 St Stithians II 0.
u16 – Kearsney A 67 St Stithians A 12; Kearsney B 31 St Stithians B 14; Kearsney C 56 St Stithians C 12.
u15 – Kearsney A 40 St Stithians A 10; Kearsney B 26 St Stithians B 7; Kearsney C 35 St Stithians C 5.
u14 – Kearsney A 57 St Stithians A 3; Kearsney B 27 St Stithians B 5; Kearsney C 21 St Stithians C 19
