Superb Graeme strategy sinks Dale in schools rugby clash

As the weather played havoc with sports fixtures throughout the Eastern Cape this weekend, Graeme College produced one of their best performances of the season when they defeated Dale 31-0 in their schools rugby clash in Makhanda on Saturday.

Not unexpectedly, the match was played in wet and windy conditions on the Marais Field and it was the home team who used the conditions the best as they scored all their points in the first half.

With the wind at their backs, Graeme were superb as they stuck to their gameplan of kicking for territory, which kept the Dalians constantly on the back foot.

This enabled them to score four converted tries during the first half, plus a penalty, to take a commanding lead at the break.

You would have expected Dale to take a dominant role in the second half, but Graeme showed great commitment on defence and the play was evenly contested during this period.

The visitors just could not find a way through and by the end of it all, Graeme were able to celebrate a memorable result in tough conditions.

Graeme’s tries came from Ayamila Bill (2), Fumani Baloyi and Elgin Fanton, with Marcus Williams adding four conversions and a penalty.

Also in Makhanda, the Kingswood second team took on Mary Waters firsts in another clash which saw only one side scoring all the points.

The Kingswoodians were able to manage the conditions just that much better than their opponents to end with a 25-0 victory.

Though a number of age-group and open division matches were played in the annual derby in Kariega between Daniel Pienaar and Grey High, the first team match did not take place.

Similarly, two big derbies which were due to happen in East London were cancelled due to the weather — Selborne vs St Andrew’s and Hudson Park vs Stirling.

However, the hockey match between Selborne and St Andrew’s did take place on the Friday evening, finishing in a deadlock at 1-1.

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