VICTORY FOR VILLAGER
Monday, 14 May 2012 09:14 | Written by Jon Harris | 
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The False Bay Second and Third Teams delivered victories, which gave hope for the same from the Firsts at Brookside on Friday night, but it was not to be.
In a close Super League A fixture at Brookside last Friday night, a determined Villager registered their first win of the season when they beat False Bay 36-23 in a local derby. The scores were tied at 13-a-piece at the break.
Both sides have been depleted with off season player movement and the contest was the lithmus test in terms of measurement in the mid to bottom table. Villager until this fixture had not yet registered a victory, while the Bay has been delivering erratic performances, one of which was a brilliant victory over current logleaders Victorians.
The Constantia outfit was the favourites going into the match and their play of the first quarter seemed to demonstrate this. They threw the ball around with some abandon, trying to run the home side off their feet. Unfortunately, in the modern game, this style of interpassing with few points of breakdown is probably best left to the Sevens experts. Villager found this easy to defend and for the most of the first 20 minutes, the Bay were frustrated by handling errors and resolute defence.
When they regrouped and started playing a game of structure, the visitors looked far more menacing with their big forwards ruthless on attack and also in control of set pieces. Here players such as Big MacGiven Geleba and Ryan Olivier were able to take the opposition on with strong running and their exciting backs were given space to run.
In contrast, the home side was playing to a pattern and their confidence grew as the contest developed. It was almost as if they played themselves into form as the match progressed. Captain Neil Cleghorn, to Villager what Justin van Winkel is to the Bay, was simply always at the front of their challenge, ably assisted by flank Patrick O’Brien. Indeed the missing ingredient in the Bay’s performance was van Winkel. His leadership and apparent omnipresence were sorely missed as the Constantia boys battled to find rhythm.
Villager led for the first half hour through two Shane Swarts penalties. The young fullback kept the home side’s score ticking over throughout the contest, causing further concern to the visitors. He banked 15 points on the day through three penalty kicks and three conversions.
False Bay struck back from a six point deficit through an exciting try by hooker JP Koster, which was started with a counter attack deep in their own half. He was on hand to collect an offload from flyhalf Jono van der Walt and scored under the posts and fullback Stefan Swanich made it a seven pointer with the conversion. A few minutes later Koster was on hand to receive another inside pass from van der Walt and inexplicably dropped the ball. This score may have been a bit too much for Vuillager to handle, considering their confidence levels at that stage.
A tribute to their resolve, Cleghorn & Co simply did not give up and the skipper equalized just before the break after he started a counter attack in midfield.
The second half delivered much of the same, a slugfest between two capable teams not yet on top of their respective games. Villager had broken the deadlock to take a healthy 13 point lead through tries by Shane Vallender and Swarts. The visiting support were feeling dejected as their team struggled to find rhythm. Then enigmatic Bay scrumhalf Ridhaa Damon scored an individual try of some brilliance when he broke from a scrum on the halfway line, chipped, chased and retrieved to score under the poles.
Self-belief flooded the Bay psyche and the contest was on. In contrast, the home side still seeking that elusive first win of the season, were not the picture of confidence. False Bay knew they could burgle the result, perhaps unfair if it had happened, and they set about attacking at every opportunity. With the score at 29-26 to the hosts and a losing bonus point in the offing for the visitors, they determinedly hunted the winning try and in their desperation, dropped a ball on their quarter line. Vallender hacked the ball through to give the scoreline an appearance of comfort.
The season is still young and false Bay, while ruing a game they could have won, need to regroup and play to the potential they so evidently possess. Villager will seek to build on this strong performance.
For Villager, tries by Vallender (2) and Cleghorn with Swarts converting all three as well as three penalties.
For False Bay tries by Koster and Damon. Swanich converted these as well as three penalties.
In a close Super League A fixture at Brookside last Friday night, a determined Villager registered their first win of the season when they beat False Bay 36-23 in a local derby. The scores were tied at 13-a-piece at the break.
Both sides have been depleted with off season player movement and the contest was the lithmus test in terms of measurement in the mid to bottom table. Villager until this fixture had not yet registered a victory, while the Bay has been delivering erratic performances, one of which was a brilliant victory over current logleaders Victorians.
The Constantia outfit was the favourites going into the match and their play of the first quarter seemed to demonstrate this. They threw the ball around with some abandon, trying to run the home side off their feet. Unfortunately, in the modern game, this style of interpassing with few points of breakdown is probably best left to the Sevens experts. Villager found this easy to defend and for the most of the first 20 minutes, the Bay were frustrated by handling errors and resolute defence.
When they regrouped and started playing a game of structure, the visitors looked far more menacing with their big forwards ruthless on attack and also in control of set pieces. Here players such as Big MacGiven Geleba and Ryan Olivier were able to take the opposition on with strong running and their exciting backs were given space to run.
In contrast, the home side was playing to a pattern and their confidence grew as the contest developed. It was almost as if they played themselves into form as the match progressed. Captain Neil Cleghorn, to Villager what Justin van Winkel is to the Bay, was simply always at the front of their challenge, ably assisted by flank Patrick O’Brien. Indeed the missing ingredient in the Bay’s performance was van Winkel. His leadership and apparent omnipresence were sorely missed as the Constantia boys battled to find rhythm.
Villager led for the first half hour through two Shane Swarts penalties. The young fullback kept the home side’s score ticking over throughout the contest, causing further concern to the visitors. He banked 15 points on the day through three penalty kicks and three conversions.
False Bay struck back from a six point deficit through an exciting try by hooker JP Koster, which was started with a counter attack deep in their own half. He was on hand to collect an offload from flyhalf Jono van der Walt and scored under the posts and fullback Stefan Swanich made it a seven pointer with the conversion. A few minutes later Koster was on hand to receive another inside pass from van der Walt and inexplicably dropped the ball. This score may have been a bit too much for Vuillager to handle, considering their confidence levels at that stage.
A tribute to their resolve, Cleghorn & Co simply did not give up and the skipper equalized just before the break after he started a counter attack in midfield.
The second half delivered much of the same, a slugfest between two capable teams not yet on top of their respective games. Villager had broken the deadlock to take a healthy 13 point lead through tries by Shane Vallender and Swarts. The visiting support were feeling dejected as their team struggled to find rhythm. Then enigmatic Bay scrumhalf Ridhaa Damon scored an individual try of some brilliance when he broke from a scrum on the halfway line, chipped, chased and retrieved to score under the poles.
Self-belief flooded the Bay psyche and the contest was on. In contrast, the home side still seeking that elusive first win of the season, were not the picture of confidence. False Bay knew they could burgle the result, perhaps unfair if it had happened, and they set about attacking at every opportunity. With the score at 29-26 to the hosts and a losing bonus point in the offing for the visitors, they determinedly hunted the winning try and in their desperation, dropped a ball on their quarter line. Vallender hacked the ball through to give the scoreline an appearance of comfort.
The season is still young and false Bay, while ruing a game they could have won, need to regroup and play to the potential they so evidently possess. Villager will seek to build on this strong performance.
For Villager, tries by Vallender (2) and Cleghorn with Swarts converting all three as well as three penalties.
For False Bay tries by Koster and Damon. Swanich converted these as well as three penalties.
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