Paarl Gim who has managed to make boring very spectacular was put under a lot of pressure in the initial stages by Oakdale. The first points for Oakdale came from a drop kick after an aimless kick down field by Paarl Gim after Oakdale's defence put the backline of Gim under pressure. Gim suffered under the constant pressure applied by Oakdale and even struggled with their normally excellent line outs.
Although Paarl Gim was leading 12-3 at the break it was a Paarl Gym who was hurried into making mistakes and decisions not normally associated by the calm and composed Gim. Paarl Gim started at the end of the first half to put together some phases and the try just before the break came after an extended period of pressure. Oakdale relying on their aggressive defence to keep the score down with almost no backline play as they use their big boys to set up the next phase with no plan when it was swung wide.
Oakdale started the second half as they did the first but this time forced yet another mistake by Paarl Gim and after the desperate kick from Gim was stormed down Oakdale won the ball and scored a converted try. Paarl Gim again preferred to kick for the line rather than to kick at goal on several occasions and with their lineout starting to work in the second half this decision resulted in a lot of territory gained and one try.
The last 10 minutes belonged to Oakdale with Paarl Gim losing players to injuries and Oakdale growing in confidence. Oakdale finally breaking down the defence of Paarl Gim to score two long distance tries.
Paarl Gim made a lot of mistakes caused by the aggressive defence of Oakdale and their own defence was tested by Oakdale using their big boys as the major weapon. An ugly win for a Paarl Gym team who for the first time this season showed some cracks in their normally successful game plan.
Scorers:
Paarl Gim 31 (12): Tries: Martins, du Toit, Rossouw (2), Staples. Conversions: Scholtz(3)
Oakdale 27 (3): Tries: Lewis (2), Bleuler, Neethling.Conversions: Uys (2) Drop Goal: Uys