FNB Wanderers pulled further away at the top of the Namibia Rugby Premier League log while only two of the scheduled four matches over the weekend took place.
Wanderers thumped FNB Rehoboth 73-14 at Rehoboth, while Montego United beat FNB Unam 36-26 at home, but FNB Western Suburbs withdrew from their match against FNB Kudus at Walvis Bay, as did FNB Reho Falcon who were due to travel to the coast to take on FNB Dolphins.
At the St Josephs Sports Field in Rehoboth, Wanderers took a while to get into their groove and with a 21-7 lead at halftime, Rehoboth were still in the match.
After the break, though, Wanderers stepped up the tempo and eventually ran in 11 tries to post a commanding 73-14 win.
National flyhalf Andre van der Berg had a great match, scoring two tries and nine conversions for a personal tally of 28 points, while Danco Burger also scored two tries; and Jaylon Carew, Nandivatu Karuuombe, SW Kuhn, Tareekuje Tjipute, Jaques Theron, Dhale Cloete and Edward Drotsky one try each.
Rehoboth scored two tries through Elmarco Beukes and Jeremy-Paul Cloete, both converted by Denver Beukes.
The win stretched Wanderers’ lead at the top of the log to 69 points from 13 matches – now 10 points ahead of United, who made a great comeback to beat Unam on their home ground in Olympia.
Unam came out firing and stormed into a 26-7 lead after four early tries by Don Juan Beukes, Marchal Klein, Camden Moller and Alcino Isaacs, while JD Nel opened United’s account with a try.
United, however, made their presence felt in the forward exchanges and a try by flanker Richard Mupewa after a driving maul from a line-out reduced the deficit to 26-14 going into the halftime break.
In the second half United’s pack started to dominate while Unam were dealt a further blow when prop Earl Ndinda was yellow-carded for a foul tackle, and United’s dominance started to tell.
After winning three penalties in a row and going for a scrum each time, United eighthman Ben Burger finally crashed over for a try and when flyhalf Hanreco van Zyl went over from a tap penalty, they were level at 26-all.
United attacked relentlessly in the final stages, while Unam defended heroically, but their defence finally crumbled when winger Irongwa Atshivudhi dived over under the posts, while Enrique Husselmann converted and added a late penalty to give them a 10-point winning margin.
The win saw United moving into second place on the log on 59 points – still 10 points behind Wanderers, but with a match in hand.
Western Suburbs, meanwhile, pulled out of their match against Kudus due to financial constraints, which saw Kudus collecting maximum bonus points, to move up to third place on the log on 56 points.
Suburbs were docked six points for failing to turn up, and a poor season still without a win, has seen them going into minus figures, with -3 points on the log.
Falcons were also docked six points for their failure to go to the coast and have now dropped down to second last on the log on 11 points.
The race for the knockout stages is now pretty clearcut with the top four positions just about decided.
FNB Grootfontein, who had a bye last weekend, are fourth on the log on 51 points and in the driving seat to make the semis.
Unam are now 13 points behind on 38, but they have a match in hand and still have a mathematical chance of finishing in the top four.
Kudus II, meanwhile, are still unbeaten in the Reserve League and hold a comfortable 10-point lead at the top of the log.
They have won all 12 their matches to date to lead the log on 71 points, while Unam II, who have won 10 and lost two matches, are second on 61 points.
Wanderers II thrashed Rehoboth II 101-3 on Saturday to move into third position on 57 points, while Grootfontein II are fourth on 55 points.
They are all nearly certain of making the knockout stages as the rest trail far behind on the log, with United on 25 points, Dolphins on 15, Rehoboth on six and Suburbs on five.
