WESTERN Suburbs staged a great fightback to beat United 26-24 in a Rugby Premier League match at the United field on Saturday.
United seemed to be heading for a comfortable victory after taking a 24-12 lead midway through the second half, but two late tries saw Suburbs snatch a last gasp victory. In a tightly contested forward battle, neither side could penetrate their opponents’ line in the first half and the teams headed into halftime level at 12-12 after four penalties apiece by United lock Winmar Rust and Suburbs centre Charlton Brussel. United finally broke through Suburbs’ defence when prop Shaun du Preez barged over from a forward maul and when right wing Philip Nashikaku darted on 64m, United had taken a 24-12 lead.Suburbs however refused to give up and pounded away at United’s defence. With five minutes remaining Suburbs’ national centre Darryl de la Harpe went over for a try after a backline overlap, and with Brussel adding the conversion they were just five points behind.Suburbs threw everything into attack and with the final move of the match involving forwards and backs, lock Munee Tjiueza stormed over for a try next to the posts. Brussel once again added the conversion to give Suburbs a two-point victory. There were several upsets in other Premier League matches on Saturday. Defending champions Rehoboth suffered their second defeat of the season when they lost 18-17 to Wanderers in Rehoboth, while Kudus stunned Reho Falcon with a 12-10 victory in Narraville.The biggest surprise however came at the Unam field in Windhoek where league newcomers Mariental beat Unam 47-37. It was their second consecutive victory after they beat Kudus 30-7 on April 17, and Mariental are now the surprise early leaders in the Premier League.The defending champions, Rehoboth and last year’s runner up, United, meanwhile, have lost both their opening matches and trail at the bottom of the log. www.namibiasport.com.na
