Boland Landbou secured a win over rivals Oakdale from Riversdale after the visitors took an early lead. Boland Landbou controlled the match from the 20th minute when they scored their first points up to the end of the game which ended 27-22 in their favour.
Oakdale had more territorial advantage in the 1st quarter and had numerous attacks at Boland’s goal line only to be stopped by some determined defence. They eventually took the lead 3-0 after a drop goal by left winger Pietie Uys just 8 minutes into the game. Boland steadily made their way back and after an accurate box kick into the corner from Boland scrumhalf Deon Carstens, captain and flanker Heinrich Brendell was on hand to gather the awkward bounce and fall over for their first try. The conversion was missed and Boland was leading 5-3 after 22 minutes.
Boland then received a penalty after a promising backline move was stopped by a deliberate knockdown. Janlu Steenkamp converted and Boland stretched their lead to 8-3 after 26 mintues. Oakdale then bounced back when fullback Adonis had a decisive break in midfield and from the resulting offload winger NJ Simon crashed over to score their first try and level the scores at 8 all. Uys converted to take Oakdale into the lead again at 10-8 after 30 minutes.
Boland hit back 2 minutes later with a try of their own when centre Durin Nasson went over in the corner after a flip back pass from fullback Louis Frylinck that put Nasson into some space. Steenkamp could not convert and that gave Boland the lead 13-10 at the end of the 1st half.
The second half started with both teams trying to stamp their dominance on the game and it was vital to score the first points. The first 20 minutes saw them going at each other from all parts of the field and only some good scrambling defence kept the scoreboard still. Boland eventually broke the deadlock after 48 minutes when a blindside break by Carsten put winger Duren Hoffman over in the corner. Steenkamp converted from the touchline and suddenly Boland had some breathing space at 20-10 in their favour. Boland added to their score in the 58th minute when centre Henlo Marais burst over the line after some good attacking phases by Boland. Steenkamp converted and Boland stretched their lead to 27-10 with 12 minutes of play left.
Oakdale clawed their way back into the match when captain and 8th man WP van Heerden went over for a try after a good maul from a line out. Uys could not convert and with 7 minutes left of the game Boland still held on to a 27-15 lead.
The Riversdal farmers then launched numerous attacks on the Boland goal line trying to get back into the match. They eventually received a penalty for offside by Boland and after a quick tap centre Nico van Eeden went over and Uys converted for the score to read 27-22 in Boland’s favour. With one minute left Oakdale was still in the game and from the kick off Van Heerden took a clean ball and ran back at the Bolanders. He made it up to the 22m area of Boland, but in the resulting ruck Oakdale was penalised and a relieved Boland kicked the ball into stands to end the match.
Scorers:
For Boland Landbou:
Tries: Heinrich Brendell, Durin Nasson, Duren Hoffman, Henlo Marais
Conv: Janlu Steenkamp (2)
Pen: Janlu Steenkamp (1)
For Oakdale:
Tries: NJ Simon, WP van Heerden, Nico van Eeden
Conv: Pietie Uys (2)
Drop: Pietie Uys (1)
Teams:
Boland Landbou: 15 Louis Frylinck, 14 Duren Hoffman, 13 Durin Nasson, 12 Henlo Marais, 11 Adriaan Stander, 10 Janlu Steenkamp, 9 Deon Carstens, 8 ,Kevin Reed 7 Heinrich Brendell (C), 6 Henro Meyer, 5 Herman le Roux, 4 Jandre Maree, 3 Christiaan Olivier, 2 Heino Strumpher, 1 Albert Coetzee
Replacements: 16 Bruwer, 17 Alberts, 18 Roos, 19 Lourens , 20 Toerien, 21 McKay, 22, Basson, 23 Nel
Oakdale: 15 Darren Adonis, 14 NJ Simon, 13 Nico van Eeden, 12 JC Nel, 11 Pietie Uys, 10 Xavier Swartbooi, 9 Lian du Toit, 8 WP van Heerden (C), 7 Hanno Olivier, 6 Stiaan Wasserman, 5 JC Lourens, 4 Jaco Smit, 3 Andre Posthumus, 2 Marko vd Merwe, 1 Dian Bleurer.
Replacements: 16 Kleinhans, 17 Lampbrecht, 18 vd Berg, 19 Victor, 20 Krauss , 21 Muller, 22 Hertz, 23 Hugo
Referee: Nathan Barry (Western Province Referees' Society)