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Raithby Universals rued their missed chances over the weekend when they kicked off their Northern League campaign with a narrow 15-13 loss to Delft RFC.
Raithby chairperson Trevor Herman said the season’s opening game proved a tight contest with some highs and lows for the Helderbergers.
“We received an early red card and thus played with 14 men for most of the game, but we still held composure and at one point took the lead,” Herman recalled.
A try by prop Devon Marthinus, as well as a conversion and two penalties by Sherwin Prince made up the Raithby scoreline.
“It must be noted that we missed three penalties, one of which was in the dying minutes, which could have easily handed us the win. But the first game is behind us and now we’re focused on the next,” Herman added.
RU make the short trip to Sir Lowry’s Pass this weekend for a derby duel against Sir Lowrians, who were also on the losing side by just three points, 34-31, to a victory-hungry Windmeul RFC team in Paarl at the weekend. Sir Low chairperson Eugene Mayinje said, with all respect to Windmeul, they were surprised at the loss.
“Windmeul obviously wanted the win more than us; they kept running, kept scoring and we battled to keep up on the day,” he said.
Gordon’s Bay Pioneers (GBP) travelled to face Blakes RFC in Stellenbosch, but the hosts were unable to field three full teams and, as such, the game was forfeited in GBP’s favour. The local club was awarded maximum points (5) for all three teams.
This Saturday, GBP will host Excelsior, also from Stellenbosch, at the Naval Sports Ground in Gordon’s Bay.
In Super League B (SLB), All Saints were handed their first loss of the season when they went down 35-18 to Bellville RFC. Saints started the game with a gutsy wave of attack in Bellville’s half, taking an early – and last lead – with a successful penalty.
Bellville shifted momentum with an intercept try from an All Saints attack deep in Bellville’s half. The home side’s backline slowly started taking the game away from Saints through strong runs from inside centre Regan Baron.
The Bellville flyhalf also kept the scoreboard pressure going with three penalties and converting three of their four tries.
In the second half Saints looked to turn the tables with impact from the bench, scoring three tries, but converting none. The hosts took the game further away with two quick tries to round off the game. All Saints will now regroup ahead of their next fixture, an away fixture against Kylemore this weekend.
Also in SLB, Strand Rugby Club continued to struggle with their second consecutive loss in as many games, this time against Belhar RFC.
Team manager Lesley Grootboom said they started strong and showed good form, taking an early 0-10 lead, courtesy of a try by O’Brian Fredericks as well as conversion and penalty by Jermaine Jansen. But the team lost focus and allowed Belhar to come back before half-time, when the scores were tied at 10-10.
“We played way better than the previous week, but discipline continues to be a problem,” said Grootboom.
The boys in blue allowed the game to slip, losing by 33-10. “We lost all momentum in the second half and the focus now is to motivate the boys.” Strand faces Van der Stel-Evergreens on Saturday.
VOther weekend fixtures: Super League A: St George’s vs UCT Ikeys (Gustrouw) False Bay vs Helderberg (Constantia); Super League C: Paarl vs Macassar (Paarl)
