Superb Hilton stops Northwood in Durban
Scoring 35 points against Northwood is no mean feat. One of the defining features of the Knights is their tough defence. But Hilton College put 35 points past them on Saturday, on Northwood’s Old Boys’ Day.
The visitors claimed a 35-22 victory in a King Price Derby Series match in the cauldron-like atmosphere of Reece-Edwards Field in an impressive display.
Props to Hilton, the victory came on the back of an 18-26 loss to Durban High School (DHS) on Van Heerden’s Field last weekend. Back-to-back, away from home, those were two immensely challenging fixtures.
Hilton’s ability to create momentum through the cohesive combination of forwards and backs was the key to their success. When that well-oiled machine gets going, it is tough to stop, even for a team as physical as the Knights.
Captain Liyema Nela put Hilton on the board first, landing an early penalty. Then, from a lineout deep inside the Northwood 22, Hilton, surprisingly, found space near the touchline to make ground towards the try line. The ball was moved left and then back to the right again.
A fantastic loop-around, with Tristan Uys feeding Nela, and the flyhalf popping a pass to James Peattie put the fullback in the clear and he celebrated with an extravagant dive, right arm extended like Superman, as he bagged the first try of the match behind the uprights within the opening 10 minutes.
The conversion kick was simple and Nela extended his side’s lead to 10-0.
Northwood, with their four Sharks’ Craven Week players, bossed some of the set scrums, and they won themselves a penalty from the set piece in the 25th minute. Scrumhalf Jed Mun-Gavin took it, quick as a flash, and flung a long pass out to Abenathi Ntsele on the left wing. With nifty footwork, he avoided an attempted tackle and dived over in the corner.
With five minutes left in the half, Hilton’s dominant rolling maul won them a penalty and Nela struck again to give his team a 13-5 lead. Hilton was not yet done, however.
Northwood had a throw-in, five metres from their line, but were unable to retain possession. Hilton soon won themselves a penalty, which Kyle-Reese Clements quickly took.
After being stopped wide on the right, Hilton brought the ball to the left and Zander Muller was almost over beneath the posts. Their powerful scrumhalf, Zander Vorster, took charge, though, picking up from the resulting ruck and driving over for five. With Nela’s easy conversion kick, coach Brad Macleod-Henderson saw his boys take a convincing 20-5 lead into the break.
Early in the second half, Northwood gave Hilton a taste of their own medicine, making many metres off a lineout win by Lian Terblanche with a powerful rolling maul. They were halted agonisingly close to the try line, but when the ball went out to the backline, fleet-footed Bongane Khumalo slipped through a gap that he manufactured for a desperately needed try for the home side.
The Knights undid some of their good work a couple of minutes later when they were blown up for not releasing a ball on the ground, and Nela punished them, slotting a penalty from 40 metres out to make it 23-10 to the visitors.
Again, it was the tricky Khumalo who unlocked Hilton’s usually staunch defence, breaking through from his side’s 10-metre line. He drew the last defender and released Ntsele to score his second try in the corner, much to the delight of the huge home support.
The Knights had the bit between their teeth, and they surged back onto the attack, pressuring Hilton from a lineout. When Nela and company illegally stopped the home side’s charge at the line, the referee ran to the poles and awarded a penalty try. At 23-22 in favour of Hilton, it was game on.
The visitors responded well. Turning to their very effective driving game off of rucks and mauls, they battered the Northwood defence, inside the host’s 22. Tighthead Mholi Khuzwayo was stopped only centimetres from the whitewash. Then, for the umpteenth time this season, scrumhalf Vorster powered his way over for five points.
With Nela adding the extras, Hilton, importantly, moved eight points clear at 30-22 – more than one score.
Hilton’s relentless mauling and driving, then, brought them the final points of the game and this time Khuzwayo, the tighthead, made it over the line. The kick was missed, but visitors had scored a stirring 35-22 victory.
It was a statement win featuring physicality and flair, with both the backline and forwards bringing it and delivering against a tough opponent.
Scorers:
Northwood 22 (5) – Tries: Abenathi Ntsele (2), Bongane Khumalo, Penalty Try. Hilton College 35 (20) – Tries: Zander Vorster (2), James Peattie, Mholi Khuzwayo. Conversions: Liyema Nela (3). Penalties: Liyema Nela (3).
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