Vodacom Cup
Cavaliers earn late draw
2011-04-16 18:14
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Elgar Watts (Gallo Images)
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Duane HeathKempton Park - Boland flyhalf Elgar Watts scored in injury time to give his team a 25-25 (halftime 13-3) draw in their final Vodacom Cup match of the season played at the Barnard Stadium on Saturday.
The crowd of 200 who braved the overcast and rainy conditions were treated to an exciting match that went down to the wire.
Had Cavaliers fullback Willie le Roux kicked the conversion of Watts’ try after the hooter, nobody would have begrudged the visitors their victory, but a draw was probably a fair reflection of the match.
Fullbacks Kyle Hendricks and Le Roux traded early penalties before the men from Wellington scored two first-half tries, to hooker Clemen Lewis and impressive centre Cornal Hendricks, to open up a 10-point lead at the break.
Flanker and man of the match Warren Perkins, who never fails to play his heart out for the East Rand team, dotted down four minutes after the restart to halve the deficit.
But the Cavaliers struck back six minutes later through centre Braam Gerber, who scored a good try converted by Le Roux that widened the gap once more.
Trailing 20-8, the Valke threw caution to the wind and it was reserve back Martin Thomsen who crashed over on the hour for Hendricks to convert and make it a five-point ball game.
The final 20 minutes were packed with drama, as the Valke first drew level, via a third try to prop Nico Engelbrecht, then pulled ahead thanks to Hendricks’ conversion and a 78th-minute penalty that seemingly sealed the result.
But the home side could not hold out the Bolanders, and Watts’ final act gave his team a share of the spoils.
Scorers:
Valke 25 – Tries: Warren Perkins, Martin Thomsen, Nico Engelbrecht. Conversions: Kyle Hendricks (2). Penalties: Hendricks (2).
Boland 25 – Tries: Clemen Lewis, Cornal Hendricks, Braam Gerber, Elgar Watts. Conversion: Willie le Roux. Penalty: Le Roux.