Durbanville Bellville host UCT

Durbell 23 – UCT 24

27 Degrees and a scorcher of a spring day saw the Ikeys travel to Durbvanville for the third fixture after the break. A game of two very different halfs. UCT seemed to have recovered from last week’s defeat in the mud to SK Walmers and put on a very clinical performance in the opening half. The pack was working well in the tight phases and provided good ball for the back three who were in great running mood. The Ikeys repeatedly pinned Durbell in their 22 and when a deft backline move finally saw Rob Hoppwood score in the corner. 

Vakai "Feeesh" Hove added a hattrick with a great individual run and finished off an excellent forward drive after a lineout. The Ikeys contiunued to dominate for the first ten minutes of the second half, but then allowed Durbell back into the game. The hosts fought back very strongly and scored two well worked tries in the second half. Gareth Wright’s boot once again proved the deciding difference. Having spent most of the last 20 minutes in the Ikey’s half, Durbanville scored again in the dying minutes and could have clinched victory hadn’t it been for the missed conversion.

A gutsy and spirited first half it was, but Dave Mallet and Robbie Fleck along with the varsity faithful wouldn’t have enjoyed the second half, where structure and commitment seemed to be coming only from the homeside. A tough week lies ahead of UCT, hosting Victorian’s on Wednesday night and the heavyweight Hamilton’s team on Saturday.

UCT: 1 Vakai Hove, 2 Kenrick Brown, 3 Ian Mathew,
4 Michael Passaportis, 5 Bodo Sieber, 6 Enoch
Luzuko Panya, 7 Rito Hlungwani, 8 Jody Burch, 9 Danie van der Merwe , 10 Gareth Wright, 11 Rob Hopwood, 12 Kevin Foote, 13 Andrew Martin, 14 James Martin, 15 James Richards

Reserves:

JP Koster, Ashley
Wells, Dylan Rodgers, Craig Kleu, Mike Ledwidge, Shaun Stewart, Matt Rosslee