FNB Unam thumped FNB Western Suburbs 68-10 on Saturday to revive their chances of making the Namibia Rugby Premier League semi-finals.
There were also big wins for FNB Wanderers, who beat FNB Reho Falcon 90-7 and FNB Kudus, who beat FNB Dolphins 45-17, while FNB Grootfontein got a walk-over win against FNB Rehoboth, who withdrew from their match at Grootfontein.
At Unam Stadium in Windhoek, Unam gave a fine display of attacking rugby as they ran in 10 tries to overwhelm Suburbs.
Fullback Aljarreau Zaahl opened their account after barely three minutes when he cut through Suburbs’ backline to score behind the posts, while right wing Keino Shetukana made it 14-0 when he rounded off a quick backline attack.
Suburbs opened their account with a try by lock Gerhardt Vaino converted by fullback Wyatt Brooks, and when Brooks added a penalty they reduced the gap to only four points.
That’s the closest they got though, as Unam gradually pulled away with further tries by captain Alcino Isaacs, Feddy Mazila and Don Juan Beukes, all converted by Zaahl, put them 36-10 ahead at the half-time break.
In the second half Suburbs managed to keep Unam at bay for a while but a try by Lazarus Joseph finally broke their defence as they ran in five more tries in the final quarter to complete a comprehensive win.
Beukes added a second try, while Paulus Hangula, Caden Moller and Vomembo Shihepo all touched down, with Zaahl converting all but one of the tries.
Unam captain Isaacs praises his team on a fine performance.
“The boys really came out to play today, they showed their talent and they really brought it on. But shout out to Suburbs, they didn’t make it easy and we had to fight for every point.
“Winning our last three games on the trot is definitely a confidence builder going into our final few games, so we are definitely going to take a lot from these games.
“We are very confident, we are building a good team now with a lot of young guys coming through. They have stepped up well in the past few games so we will continue to build and hopefully we can surprise some teams,” he says.
That win saw Unam moving up to 31 points in fifth place but they are still seven points behind Kudus, who got maximum bonus points in a 45-17 victory against Dolphins 45-17 at Swakopmund.
Kudus ran in seven tries through Aston Mukwiilongo, Lloyd Jacobs, Lezardo Vos, Alexander Jansen, Sheron Rossouw, Jarren Koning and Clayton Camm, while Aurelio Plato added five conversions.
Wanderers, meanwhile, remained at the top of the log after a runaway 90-7 victory against Falcons at Rehoboth.
They ran in a total of 14 tries, with Jaylon Carew, Danco Burger and Tareekuje Tjiputa each scoring a brace, while Andre van der Berg, Jacques Theron, Adriaan Booysen, Dhale Cloete, Ruan Ludick, Edward Drotsky, JP Campbell and Owen Hawanga scored one each.
JP van Wyk scored Falcons’ solitary try which was converted by Sven van Wyk.
That win saw Wanderers remaining at the top of the log on 51 points, but Grootfontein are just one point behind after they also got maximum points against Rehoboth, who withdrew from the match.
In terms of the rugby league rules and regulations, Grootfontein receive six league points and a 49-0 points victory, while Rehoboth receive a six-point deduction, which will severely dent their semi-final hopes.
