Framesby battles to tight win over Nico Malan
Framesby battled against the elements and ferocious opposition from Nico Malan to win a thrilling clash 22-17 in a windy Humansdorp on Saturday.
With an extremely strong wind at their backs in the first half, the visitors crossed for three tries to take a handy 15-5 lead into the break and then held out against a determined Nico Malan onslaught to secure the win by five points.
After big Framesby lock Aiden Dennis had opened the scoring to make it 5-0, Nico Malan was caught playing the ball in their own 22-metre area and a knock-on resulted in a scrum to Framesby in a favourable attacking position.
From there, they were able to exploit space out wide, creating an overlap for Calestin Felkers to race over, taking the score to 10-0.
Nico Malan hit back in the 23rd minute with a try by prop Drikus Kruger, who forced his way over from a five-metre lineout, but not long afterwards Framesby restored their 10-point lead with a forward rush ending in hooker Luke Didloft dotting the ball down.
In the second half, Framesby showed great patience playing into the wind and instead of kicking the ball into touch and not gaining much distance, they ran at the Nico Malan defenders, forcing them to make tackle after tackle.
However, it was the home side who scored first, with a try by wing Kobus Strydom, to leave the match in the balance.
Framesby’s determination to hold onto the ball rather than kick eventually paid dividends when they broke out from their own half to work their way into Nico Malan territory.
They were able to create enough pressure from that period of play for captain and No 8 Eden Calitz to force his way over for their fourth try. Scrumhalf Mondre van Heerden added the conversion to give them a handy 22-10 cushion.
Nico Malan pressed hard to close the gap and thought they had scored from a driving maul, but the referee disallowed the try, blowing them up for obstruction.
When centre Gelden van Niekerk went on a blistering run, breaking the midfield defence to score under the poles, they were back in the game, with a successful conversion reducing the deficit to five points.
However, there were less than two minutes remaining and Framesby was able to hold out for a hard-fought victory.
In their Tinara Cup match in Kariega, Muir College and Daniel Pienaar ended deadlocked at 17-17, while Brandwag had too much power and control for Pearson, winning 26-5 in Gqeberha.
Scorers:
Framesby 22 (15) – Tries: Luke Didloft, Calestin Felkers, Aiden Dennis, Eden Calitz. Conversion: Mondre van Heerden. Nico Malan 17 (5) – Tries: Drikus Kruger, Kobus Strydom, Gelden van Niekerk. Conversion: Leighton Lawrence.
