A second-half capitulation condemned the Border Bulldogs to a 57-22 loss against the SWD Eagles in an SA Cup clash at Hudson Park High School Stadium in KuGompo City on Saturday.
The heavy drubbing highlighted several shortcomings in the Bulldogs’ team, though there were plenty of positives, especially their bold stand in the first half when they matched the Eagles strength for strength despite their physical inferiority.
They managed to score three tries to the Eagles’ nine, many of which came after the break.
The visitors came out of the blocks determined to exploit the Bulldogs’ slow start as reflected in their previous game when they lost to the Griffons in the season opener in Welkom.
Within a minute, the Eagles had already registered their name on the score sheet when Abner van Reenen dotted down.
This sparked the Bulldogs to life as they forced the visitors to commit transgressions, with Isiphe Mbini converting the penalty.
While the Bulldogs were still in a celebratory mood, the Eagles struck back with Christian Pretorius dotting down for one of his two tries on the afternoon.
The match erupted into a gritty slugging encounter resembling a boxing match between a heavyweight and lightweight boxer, with the Bulldogs refusing to back down despite their small frames.
On the other hand, the Eagles imposed their physical advantage by kicking for touch to exploit their dominance of the lineout and scrums.
But the Bulldogs refused to succumb, though elementary mistakes such as poor ball handling and knock-ons crept into their game.
In their haste to pile pressure on the hosts, the Eagles often resorted to numerous infractions, many of which went unpunished by the referee.
However, one of them, by captain Carel du Preez, was spotted, leading to him being sent to the sin bin.
The Bulldogs immediately exploited their numerical advantage, with captain Sibusiso Lali scoring and Mbini converting.
But their porous defence allowed Janus Venter to slice through on the right to score.
The Bulldogs responded with a try by Hlumelo Zitha, with Mbini again doing the honours before Hlumelo Pantyo also registered his name on the score sheet.
The Bulldogs’ habit of concentration lapses after scoring was one of their downfalls as the Eagles were able to stretch the lead to 26-22 going into the break.
Coach Dumisani Mhani felt his team deserved the lead at halftime.
“We played very well in the first half, barring elementary mistakes which denied us the lead,” he said.
“We deserved to lead going into the break.”
However, the robust and physical first half seemed to have sapped all the Bulldogs’ energy.
“We deserved to lead going to the break.”
— Dumisani Mhani- Bulldogs coach
In the second-half the Eagles continued their physical dominance, scoring five tries with no response from the hosts to reflect the lack of conditioning of the players.
Mhani refused to attribute the disjointed second-half performance to poor conditioning, though he admitted the changes of the venue before the match also robbed them of proper home-ground advantage.
The match was originally scheduled to be played at Sisa Dukashe Stadium, only to be moved to Cove and Sports Venue near Nahoon Dam before the organisers settled for Hudson Park High.
The Bulldogs travel to face the in-form Suzuki Griquas in Kimberley on Saturday.
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