There was a grandstand finish to the season for Selborne College as they claimed a well-deserved 27-21 victory over Grey High School in front of an excited home crowd at Selborne College on Saturday afternoon.
A second-half surge from Grey provided a nail-biting end to the match after Selborne had dominated the opening 50 minutes.
“It was a great game,” said Selborne first-team coach Kevin Taylor.
“We played exceptionally well in the first 50 minutes and then we let Grey back in the game, but in the end we held out for a great win.”
It was Selborne’s second consecutive win over Grey after picking up a good win in Port Elizabeth last year, and it meant that Selborne ended their season on the best possible note having won their last seven games of the season in a row.
It sees Selborne end 2016 with 14 wins, two draws and three losses.
“The Grey match is one of our best fixtures with all our teams getting a chance to play at the highest level,” Taylor said.
In the match, a number of players stood out for Selborne with forwards Mila Bomela, Sande Msengana and Alex Greig putting in great efforts while in the backline, fullback James Bruce was in top form.
However, it was the performance of flyhalf David Coetzer that impressed the most.
Coetzer scored a try, slotted two conversions and a penalty and set up another try in a sparkling display.
“It was an absolute team effort, but David Coetzer scored at the right moments,” Taylor said.
Good early pressure from Selborne saw them take a 3-0 lead as Coetzer punished the visitors for straying offside at a ruck in their own 22m.
Three minutes later, Bruce sprinted in to score near the left-hand corner, with the conversion missed.
The home side was rocking and scored another in the 16th minute after a penalty on Grey’s 5m allowed scrumhalf James Monaghan to take a quick tap and pass the ball to wing Joshua Armstrong who put in a strong fend and slid over in the right-hand corner, with Coetzer missing again and Selborne 13-0 up.
Selborne started the second half with a bang as Coetzer received the ball in Grey’s 22m off a ruck and sliced through their defence to score under the posts, with the extras putting them 20-0 up.
A pick-and-go from a ruck in Grey’s 22m saw hooker Bomela score a converted try.
That was, however, Selborne's last points of the match with Grey fighting back through three tries to prop Sive Masosiwe, flank Azola Mahonga and inside centre James Neubert, with scrumhalf Praveen Bosch slotting the conversions to set up the tense finale.
Tense finish for Selborne in derby
A second-half surge from Grey provided a nail-biting end to the match after Selborne had dominated the opening 50 minutes.
“It was a great game,” said Selborne first-team coach Kevin Taylor.
“We played exceptionally well in the first 50 minutes and then we let Grey back in the game, but in the end we held out for a great win.”
It was Selborne’s second consecutive win over Grey after picking up a good win in Port Elizabeth last year, and it meant that Selborne ended their season on the best possible note having won their last seven games of the season in a row.
It sees Selborne end 2016 with 14 wins, two draws and three losses.
“The Grey match is one of our best fixtures with all our teams getting a chance to play at the highest level,” Taylor said.
In the match, a number of players stood out for Selborne with forwards Mila Bomela, Sande Msengana and Alex Greig putting in great efforts while in the backline, fullback James Bruce was in top form.
However, it was the performance of flyhalf David Coetzer that impressed the most.
Coetzer scored a try, slotted two conversions and a penalty and set up another try in a sparkling display.
“It was an absolute team effort, but David Coetzer scored at the right moments,” Taylor said.
Good early pressure from Selborne saw them take a 3-0 lead as Coetzer punished the visitors for straying offside at a ruck in their own 22m.
Three minutes later, Bruce sprinted in to score near the left-hand corner, with the conversion missed.
The home side was rocking and scored another in the 16th minute after a penalty on Grey’s 5m allowed scrumhalf James Monaghan to take a quick tap and pass the ball to wing Joshua Armstrong who put in a strong fend and slid over in the right-hand corner, with Coetzer missing again and Selborne 13-0 up.
Selborne started the second half with a bang as Coetzer received the ball in Grey’s 22m off a ruck and sliced through their defence to score under the posts, with the extras putting them 20-0 up.
A pick-and-go from a ruck in Grey’s 22m saw hooker Bomela score a converted try.
That was, however, Selborne's last points of the match with Grey fighting back through three tries to prop Sive Masosiwe, flank Azola Mahonga and inside centre James Neubert, with scrumhalf Praveen Bosch slotting the conversions to set up the tense finale.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Register (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Trending Now
Latest Videos