The Border Bulldogs were left kicking themselves at Police Park in East London on Sunday after letting the Valke pull away to a 38-14 win in arguably one the union’s best performances of the SA Cup.
The game was Border’s last in what has been a woeful campaign where the team took the wooden spoon.
Head coach David Dobela admitted during the week that the results in the campaign were far from what he had desired in his Bulldogs “project rebuild”.
He called for his charges to put up their best fight against their second-tier counterparts from Brakpan, stating that the game was important in measuring where the team was going into the First Division competition later in the year.
Under clear blue skies and ideal weather for running rugby, the Valke were the first to strike through their captain Eddie Evans who powered his way from five metres in.
It only took Border a few seconds to answer the Falcon blow.
Hard-running eighthman Chuma Biyana provided the home side with the reply as he crashed over for Border’s first try of the afternoon.
Those who arrived just before the end of the first half were treated to superb rugby, with the sides exchanging waves of attacks but without bending the horn.
The Valke eventually collected the second try through Zander van der Merwe but Border replied immediately as Ryan Maree crossed over the whitewash to bring the score to 14-14 with 10 minutes till the break.
The game was tight until ill-discipline hit Border with Biyana sent to the sin bin, turning from hero to villain.
The Valke took advantage of the deficit and snuck a try through their watchdog and scrumhalf Luciano Elias.
Border went to the break trailing 19-14.
They came out for the second half a rejuvenated team and dominated every scrum that was on offer, however, luck was not on their side as they lost the majority of 50/50 calls.
Every time Border upped the tempo, they would be set back by unfortunate close penalty calls.
This eventually resulted in Elias dotting his second try of the game.
Elias’s sniping try was a good example of how to catch a defence napping as he sliced Border’s brown wall in half from a tap in Border’s five-metre line.
As with previous games, when Border threw their inexperienced substitutes into the fray, the East London outfit lost shape slightly in their defensive organisation.
This led to the floodgates opening, with the Valke scoring two tries in the last quarter of the game.
The Valke finished the tournament mid-table.
With months until the Currie Cup First Division, there is no doubt Border will be a better side if one considers performances in their last three outings of the SA Cup against the EP Elephants, Free State Cheetahs and Valke.
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