Wanderers get revenge

WANDERERS got their revenge against Western Suburbs with a 36-22 victory in an MTC Rugby Premier League match on Saturday, after leading 24-5 at halftime.

It was the first time that the two sides had met since their first-round match, three months ago to the day, was postponed. That match was postponed when Wanderers obtained a court interdict to prevent the first-round final between Suburbs and Reho Falcon from taking place, after Wanderers claimed that some Suburbs players were not correctly registered.Wanderers eventually lost their appeal when the matter was resolved through arbitration, and Suburbs went on to play the first-round final, which they lost 18-9 to Reho Falcon.The enmity between the clubs remained, however, and Wanderers were determined to prove a point on Saturday, which they certainly did.They immediately went on the attack and took the lead when centre Dawie Koen burst over for a try in only the second minute.From then on there was no looking back and they soon went 10-0 ahead when Marcus Bean cut through the defence to score a try.Pieter Meeuwesen struggled with his placekicks, missing both conversions, but it didn’t prove too costly.Flyhalf Pieter Rossouw burst over for a try after a fine solo effort, jinxing through Suburbs’ backline and going over with some defenders hanging desperately on.This time Meeuwesen added the conversion and with barely 20 minutes gone, Wanderers were already 17-0 ahead.With Wanderers dominating the forward exchanges, their eighthman Deon Gouws was the next to score when he scrambled over from a maul.Meeuwesen added the conversion to put them 24-0 ahead.Suburbs finally opened their account when centre Ravik Esterhuizen went over after a swift backline attack.Suburbs made a spirited comeback in the second half as wing McGrath van Wyk raced through to dot down a kick upfield.Suburbs kept on attacking and replacement back Llewellyn Feris soon was the next to score a try, with Van Wyk adding the conversion to bring them back into contention at 24-17.Wanderers however regained the initiative when left wing Bean went over for his second try in the corner.Eighthman Deon Gouws also burst over for his second try and with substitute back Morne du Plessis adding the conversion, Wanderers went 36-17 ahead.Suburbs grabbed a consolation try when scrumhalf Rodney Bezuidenhout went over after a blindside move, which caught Wanderers’ defence napping.Wanderers’ coach Piet Louwrens was a satisfied man after the match.”Not a bad performance against a team that played in the first round final,” he quipped after the match.Suburbs’ coach, Johan Diergaardt said his team had not taken their chances.”We had a lot of chances that we could not finish off.But my players showed good character to come back in the second half, although our handling was not up to standard,” he said.Wanderers have now gone to the top of the log with 19 points, followed by United on 18, Suburbs on 16, Unam on 15 and Reho Falcon on 14.Wanderers will host Reho Fallcon at their home ground next Wednesday in the final league match of the second round, before the top four teams will go through to the semifinals.namibiasport.com.naThat match was postponed when Wanderers obtained a court interdict to prevent the first-round final between Suburbs and Reho Falcon from taking place, after Wanderers claimed that some Suburbs players were not correctly registered.Wanderers eventually lost their appeal when the matter was resolved through arbitration, and Suburbs went on to play the first-round final, which they lost 18-9 to Reho Falcon.The enmity between the clubs remained, however, and Wanderers were determined to prove a point on Saturday, which they certainly did.They immediately went on the attack and took the lead when centre Dawie Koen burst over for a try in only the second minute.From then on there was no looking back and they soon went 10-0 ahead when Marcus Bean cut through the defence to score a try.Pieter Meeuwesen struggled with his placekicks, missing both conversions, but it didn’t prove too costly.Flyhalf Pieter Rossouw burst over for a try after a fine solo effort, jinxing through Suburbs’ backline and going over with some defenders hanging desperately on.This time Meeuwesen added the conversion and with barely 20 minutes gone, Wanderers were already 17-0 ahead.With Wanderers dominating the forward exchanges, their eighthman Deon Gouws was the next to score when he scrambled over from a maul.Meeuwesen added the conversion to put them 24-0 ahead.Suburbs finally opened their account when centre Ravik Esterhuizen went over after a swift backline attack.Suburbs made a spirited comeback in the second half as wing McGrath van Wyk raced through to dot down a kick upfield.Suburbs kept on attacking and replacement back Llewellyn Feris soon was the next to score a try, with Van Wyk adding the conversion to bring them back into contention at 24-17.Wanderers however regained the initiative when left wing Bean went over for his second try in the corner.Eighthman Deon Gouws also burst over for his second try and with substitute back Morne du Plessis adding the conversion, Wanderers went 36-17 ahead.Suburbs grabbed a consolation try when scrumhalf Rodney Bezuidenhout went over after a blindside move, which caught Wanderers’ defence napping.Wanderers’ coach Piet Louwrens was a satisfied man after the match.”Not a bad performance against a team that played in the first round final,” he quipped after the match.Suburbs’ coach, Johan Diergaardt said his team had not taken their chances.”We had a lot of chances that we could not finish off.But my players showed good character to come back in the second half, although our handling was not up to standard,” he said.Wanderers have now gone to the top of the log with 19 points, followed by United on 18, Suburbs on 16, Unam on 15 and Reho Falcon on 14.Wanderers will host Reho Fallcon at their home ground next Wednesday in the final league match of the second round, before the top four teams will go through to the semifinals.namibiasport.com.na