Clinical second half secured win for Kings
Eastern Province Kings coach, Brent Janse van Rensburg praised his players work ethic after their 32 – 24 win against the Free State Cheetahs at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium last night, after they were reduced to 14 men early in the second half.
The Kings took an early six point lead through two Scott van Breda penalties before Gerhard Olivier crashed over from a driving maul to score the Cheetahs’ first try. Flyhalf Fred Zeilinga was on target as he added the extras to give his team a one point lead, 7 – 6, at the end of the first quarter.
Cheetahs scrumhalf Shaun Venter sliced through poor Kings defence as he scored their second try minutes later, again Zeilinga was on target as he extended their lead to 14 – 6. Kings struck back with a try of their own as left wing Luther Obi sprinted to an open tryline ten minutes before the half time break. Van Breda brought his team within one point as he added the extra two to bring the score to 13 – 14.
With five minutes to half time, the Cheetahs were again attacking deep inside Kings half and this time Clayton Blommetjies was unmarked as he gathered a grubber kick to score in the corner. Zeilinga missed his first kick of the night as they took a 19 – 13 lead.
Kings’ van Breda added a penalty on half time as the first half ended 19 – 16 in favour of the visitors.
Six minutes into the second half Kings’ were reduced to fourteen players when outside centre JP du Plessis was red carded for punching a player in the face.
The Kings, however, dug deep as they pulled together and as a result scored their second try through right wing Siyanda Grey, after a brilliant touch line run from Paul Schoeman who gave the final pass to Grey. Van Breda was spot on with the conversion as the Kings took the lead, 23 – 19, in the fifty fifth minute.
Van Breda added another three penalties, to bring his total tally to 22 points, as he gave the Kings a commanding 32 – 19 lead with ten minutes to play.
Former Eastern Province speedster, Sergeal Petersen had the final say when he scored his teams bonus point try, Zeilinga missed the conversion as the Cheetahs missed out on a second bonus point for coming within seven points as the game ended 32 – 24.
Janse van Rensburg said after the game that the previous close defeats build confidence and the guys were expectant.
“The guys are very happy but not bouncing off the walls because they were confident and expectant to a certain point that we would win and we just had to make sure we did ourselves justice and be accurate in the second half”, he added.
Janse van Rensburg also said he was happy with the fighting character his team showed after they were reduced to 14 men early in the second half.
“The three things i look for as a coach. Number one, character, number two, an ability, and number three a work ethic.”
The Kings surely showed all three as the odds were stacked up against them with just over thirty minutes to go in the second half. The win means that they move to seven log points, two less then the sixth placed Pumas with a game in hand against the bottom of the log Griquas later today.
Scorers:
EP Kings (16) 32 – Tries: Luther Obi, Siyanda Grey. Conversions: Scott van Breda (2), Siyanda Grey. Penalties: Scott van Breda (6)
Toyota FS Cheetahs (19) 24 – Tries: Gerhard Olivier, Shaun Venter, Clayton Blommetjies, Sergeal Petersen. Conversions: Fred Zeilinga (2)
Written by Pierre Mc Leod
Photo: Stan Blumberg
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