Kearsney beats Hilton 34-22 – match report

From Kearsney College (Working Words)

Kearsney hosted Hilton on a hot and humid Saturday afternoon on Botha’s Hill. The teams combined to produce a high scoring entertaining match that could be defined as a game of two halves. The first half belonged to Hilton who established a 17-6 lead at a stage with the help of a structured and well-executed game plan. The second half saw Kearsney making tactical adjustments and outscoring a tired looking Hilton 21-5.

From the kick-off Hilton made their intentions clear with motivated defence but unfortunately quickly conceded a penalty with over eagerness at the second ruck of the match. James Tedder converted for an early 3-0 lead by the hosts.

Soon after kick-off Hilton was awarded a scrum just inside the Kearsney 22m. The inside centre Keaton Bottriell ran a direct line from the flyhalf Daniel Hirschowitz and when stopped by the second line of defence passed to the supporting blind side wing for a converted try and a 7 – 3 lead. Both place kickers added another penalty during the next five minutes of play for a 10 – 6 lead to the visitors.

Kearsney misfielded a kick-off and from the ensuing lineout got the calls mixed up. Numerous pick and go opportunities followed and eventually Hilton’s scrum half Matt Dahl dived over for a converted try to make 17-6 to the Midlands visitors.

From the kick-off Kearsney applied a lot of pressure and attacked through a number of phases until a tackle dislodged the ball. Hilton attacked when Kearsney fullback Mitchell Nesbit did some powerful work in the tackle and breakdown, which forced a Hilton error and penalty. Hooker Joshua van Vuuren responded with a quick tap to score; which Tedder converted.

The last 10 minutes of the first half saw some missed opportunities for both teams but certainly provided excitement. One of the highlights being an outstanding run by well-built young Hilton fullback Cameron Badenhorst. The half-time score was 17 – 13 in favour of the visitors.

The second half saw Kearsney playing a more territorial game which proved valuable and soon led to their first of three tries in the second half. Outside centre Matthew Watts scored in the left hand corner after seven phases of attack which originated from a centre scrum. Tedder, Tristan Dixon and Nesbit were prominent and the inter-play between forwards and backs was impressive. Tedder converted and Kearsney took the lead at 20 – 17.

Five minutes later Kearsney was awarded a lineout on their 10m line and managed a 26m driving maul for Tedder to break blind and score a very impressive try, which he converted as well. Shortly afterwards Kearsney won a scrum ball but was robbed of possession from good pressure play in which Dahl featured strongly using a kick ahead and then showing good pace to get to the ball ahead of defenders. Hilton set up a driving lineout where Kearsney was penalised.

Hilton charged at the line and eventually the replacement fly-half burst through a tackle to score an unconverted try. The score was very close at 27 – 22 with 4-minutes to play.

Kearsney kicked deep and Hilton, with no other option but to run it from deep, threw a long pass which centre Watts intercepted. Tedder converted taking the final score to 34 – 22 in favour of the hosts.

Outstanding players for Kearsney were James Tedder, Tristan Dixon, Joshua van Vuuren and Matthew Watts while for Hilton Matthew Dahl, Keaton Bottriell and Cameron Badenhorst made useful t contributions.