Montego United went second on the Namibia Rugby Premier League log after beating FNB Rehoboth 66-47 in a thriller on Saturday.
FNB Grootfontein, meanwhile, remained at the top of the log with a comfortable victory against FNB Western Suburbs, while FNB Wanderers remain in the hunt after a hard-fought win against FNB Dolphins.
United had to withstand a fierce fightback before overcoming Rehoboth at United Park. It was not a great match, with lots of errors on both sides, but it certainly was a spectacle of running rugby with a total of 16 tries scored on the day.
United took an early lead after tries by Jurgen Meyer and Thehard Lintvelt, but Rehoboth struck back with a try by Keathen Freygang and two penalties by Miguel Busch, and when Carl Freygang went over for a converted try, Rehoboth were suddenly 20-12 ahead.
United fought back with Meyer’s second try, but Rehoboth stretched their lead to 27-19 when Dihlen Dahries went over after a fine run by Jason Farmer.
United immediately struck back from the restart through a great try by Lintvelt, plucking the ball out of the air and going over unopposed, but Rehoboth stretched their lead to 34-26 when Kevin Cloete crashed over from a forward maul.
United, however, finished the half stronger with tries by Gerhard Oppermann and the speedy Meyer’s third as they regained a 38-34 lead going into the break.
United seemed to be pulling away when tries by DJ Holtzhausen and Meyer’s fourth put them 52-37 ahead, but Rehoboth kept on fighting, with Carl and Keathen Freygang both scoring one more try each to narrow the gap to 52-47. United, however, pulled away with two more tries by Irongwa Atshivudhi and Suramie Kambombo to seal a commanding win.
‘ACHIEVING OUR GOALS’
“It was a tough game so we are happy with the win. We wanted to get the win and a bonus point and we achieved that, and as far as I know we don’t have any injuries, so we achieved our goals,” United coach Herman Lintvelt said after the match.
“We were a bit disappointed with some decisions that went against us, but we’ll have to look it and analyse the game,” he said.
“Rehoboth are a quality team, and they have some exciting young players. I thought we had it in the bag after we got two early tries, but they never let us go, so well done to them and all the best for the rest of the season,” he said.
Rehoboth coach Brian Titus said their fitness let them down.
“We started the game very well, but the three weeks we were off cost us a bit and we could see the fitness levels were not up there in the second half. But it was a very good start against one of the top teams.
“It was a hard game and I’m happy we stayed in the fight till the end. What’s important is the progress we are making, and if you look at where we were and where we are now, I believe we will get good results going forward,” he said.
The result saw United moving up to second place on the log on 41 points – two behind Grootfontein who got maximum bonus points in a 50-14 home victory against Western Suburbs.
Grootfontein scored eight tries through Wicus Jacobs (two), Pieter Luttig, Johannes Luttig, Renard Luttig, Harry Ngasia, Dhaamin Bassardien and Franklin Busch, who added five conversions.
Suburbs scored a penalty try and another by Morgan Esterhuizen, converted by Dewayne van Zyl.
Wanderers dropped down to third position on 40 points after beating Dolphins 26-15 at the coast.
Wanderers scored four tries through Kyle Nel, Dhale Cloete, Obert Nortje and Edward Trotsky, while Andre van der Berg added three conversions.
The top-three teams have now opened up a substantial gap on the rest of the field with the defending champions FNB Kudus, who had a bye, trailing in fourth place on 26 points.
FNB Unam, meanwhile, moved up to 25 points after a 48-33 home win against FNB Reho Falcon.
Unam scored seven tries through Don Juan Beukes (two), Kashan Beukes, Caeden Moller, Rowan Jansen, Jaydene Links and Willon du Plessis, while Aljarreau Zaahl added four conversions and Bronwin Willemse one conversion and one penalty.
For Falcons, Cliven Loubser scored two tries and three conversions while Keynen Basson scored a try and Ashton van Wyk four penalties.
