Selborne’s Fortress stands strong against Grey invaders
Selborne College continued to reign at their home-ground, “The Fortress” and finished their season in memorable fashion with a well-earned 27-14 win over Grey High in their King Price Derby Series clash, in East London, on Saturday.
In a match in which both sides were outstanding on defence, but not quite as clinical on attack, Selborne scored a crucial try on the stroke of halftime to make it 14-14 at the break and then kept their Gqeberha rivals scoreless in the second period.
On top of that, they seized their moments to outmanoeuvre the Grey defence at a lineout, which led to hooker Liam Hansen charging over for his second try.
Complementing their try scoring efforts was the boot of fullback Bungqina Nuku, who had a brilliant day kicking for posts, slotting two penalties and three conversions for an unblemished record.
Taking points when they were on offer, Selborne was able to build scoreboard pressure, and they then relied on their committed defence to keep the Grey attackers at bay.
Grey was equally solid in protecting their line and the attempts by both sides to attack from close range were mostly nullified by the committed defending tacklers.
After Hansen opened the scoring in the 16th minute with his first try, Grey hit back as the halftime whistle loomed when centre Bradley Myburgh conjured up a brilliant midfield break and went on a solo run to the line.
Three minutes later, Grey hit the front when hooker Evan Mucka went over for five, but Selborne made it all square with flank Travis Enslin‘s try on halftime. After the break, they controlled the contest to pull away and grab the win.
In Qonce, Hudson Park High emerged with the victory in an extremely tight contest against Dale College, taking the match 16-10.
The star for Hudson was wing Masibulele Kwakwini, who crossed for two tries, while Landile Gidi kicked two penalties.
Dale mustered only a try by captain and No 8 Kamva Sithole in reply, while flyhalf Inga Mafanga added a conversion and a penalty.
Queen’s College got back on the winning track in emphatic style after the previous weekend’s loss to Graeme College, outclassing Cambridge High 59-6 after leading 19-0 at halftime.
Josh Jordaan crossed for a brace as the Queenians went on a second half rampage, which led to seven more tries.
Although well beaten, Cambridge kept trying and made it onto the scoreboatd through two penalties by Mange Mlonyeni.
Scorers
Selborne College 27 (14) – Tries: Liam Hansen (2), Travis Enslin. Penalties: Bungqina Nuku (2). Conversions: Nuku (3). Grey High 14 (14) – Tries: Bradley Myburgh, Evan Mucka. Conversions: Meyer Prinsloo (2).
Queen’s College 59 (19) – Tries: Jeffery Niland, Ayola Somhlahlo, Josh Jordaan (2), Thina Fenako, Zeake Mata, Mveli Mqulo, Bongolwethu Nyakaza, Sambisiwe Vetman. Conversions: Mqulo (5), Nyakaza (2). Cambridge High 6 (0) – Penalties: Mange Mlonyeni (2).
Hudson Park High 16 (11) – Tries: Masibulele Kwakwini (2). Penalties: Landile Gidi (2). Conversion: Gidi. Dale College 10 (7) – Try: Kamva Sithole. Penalty: Inga Mafanga. Conversion: Inga Mafanga.
