11 tries from the EP Kings, 4 from the Griffons, 6 EP Kings conversions, 3 Griffons conversions and 93 points scored in total for the EP Kings win of 67-26 against the Griffons at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium last night. The half time score was 36-7 in the favour of the EP Kings (scroll down for the images from Snapz).
As coach Alan Solomons said a couple of weeks ago – he is happy with his tight 5 and the first three in the backline as those positions anchor the EP Kings team and set them up for good attacking moves.
The EP Kings team scrummaging was tight and effective, scrumhalf Falie Oelschig revelled in good clean ball and George Whitehead managed to get more than a fair share of good ball swinging down the line to showcase the superb running of Norman Nelson and Siyanda Grey.
First blood went to the EP Kings in the 6th minute as SP Marais crashed over for his only try of the match. The next EP King’s try started with a superb chip ahead by Like Watson from his 25, scooped up by Jaco Bekker who showed a clean pair of heels to make the score 12-0 after a succesful George Whitehead conversion.
The EP Kings almost had the first half’s scoring all to themselves but for a late Griffons try by Ricardo Pietersen with 30 seconds to go to the siren. A succesful conversion by Griffon’s flyhalf saw the teams retire to the dressing rooms with the scoreline at 36-7.
EP Kings started the second half kickoff with a great chase and scoop by Norman Nelson who left everyone flat footed to score in the first seconds.
Five minutes of far too loose and scrappy play created an opportunity for Griffons Number Eight, Nicky Stein to put points on the board.
The EP Kings came back with some nice tight play in the 51st minute to truck and trailer the ball over the Griffons tryline for Luke Watson to dot the ball down. By the way Luke – the short haircut and clean shaven thing suits you more, as my late Old Man used to say; “Never trust a man with a beard”.
The Griffons replied with a try by Enrico Schultz, converted by Tiaan van Wyk in the 53rd minute and then it was all of 8 minutes before Siyanda Grey crashed over for his only try. Marcello Sampson’s 3rd try of the match came in the 66th minute. The last EP Kings points were scored in the 70th minute off of a good halfway line break by Luke Watson who set Norman Nelson up for a dazzling run to score and the 6th succesful conversion by George Whitehead.
The game Griffons continued fighting and scored with 3 minutes to go.
Final score: 67-26.
Scorers:
- EP Kings: SP Marais (1 try), Norman Nelson (2 tries), Siyanda Grey (1 try), Jaco Bekker (2 tries), Marcello Sampson (3 tries), Falie Oelschig (1 try), Luke Watson (1 try), George Whitead (6 conversions).
- Griffons: Ricardo Pietersen (1 try), Enrico Schultz (1 try), Nicky Steyn (1 try), Tertius Maarman (1 try), Jannie Myburgh (1 conversion), Tiaan van Wyk (2 conversions).
Positives:
- We have a band – cricket watch out, it looks like this band is a stayer!
- Scrum work good.
- We won.
- An exemplary score when one considers that on 23 July 2010, the EP Kings won against the Griffons 26-25 in Port Elizabeth and on 3 September 2010, the Griffons won against EP Kings 27-18 in Welkom.
- Some really good support in the stands.
Negatives:
- Sloppy play cost us points.
- Not all players appear to be able to complete set moves properly.
- Spectator numbers not high enough.
On 6 August the EP Kings will be appearing in the Greenacres Shopping Centre Food Court from 10:30 to 12:30 to meet their fans and sign autographs. See you there.
And once again, our old mate (and all round nice guy), Richard provided these images of the match for your enjoyment – I think that the Longhair and I will just sommer go and get married again so we can get Richard to take photo’s of us. Contact Richard at Snapz ‘n Thingz to photograph your next event.
