‘Panne’ on the rampage in Reiger Park
Spirits are jovial in the Brakpan camp and they will hope to carry the winning momentum into the clash against neighbours and rivals Springs.
Brakpan Rugby Club’s first XV were back in action this weekend when they travelled to the Reiger Park home base of East Rand United, a side that were expected to give the “Panne” a run for their money.
That is precisely how it started in the Valke Peregrine League in Boksburg on Saturday, June 25.
East Rand United put up a steady defensive front in the first half and the Panne’s 14-7 lead (two Brakpan tries) at the break highlighted the closeness of the opening 40 minutes.
Then, after the break, the metaphorical floodgates opened with the Valke Rugby Union’s 2016 Gold Cup representatives, Brakpan, turning on the heat despite a red card (following two yellow cards) for Theo Bekker that forced his side to play the remainder of the match with 14 men.
That didn’t hold the Green Machine back though and they soon found fluidity in their ranks to crash over their opponent’s whitewash an additional six times.
East Rand United lost the game in the line-out, a perennial trump card for their visitors, after they failed to contest against the tall Brakpan men that resulted in the Panne scoring a few tries from the rolling maul.
The team from Bosman Stadium can also thank their specialist fetchers Wikus van der Berg and Jaco Lotter who were outstanding at turning over possession for the Panne while Tiaan Ramat also caused headaches for East Rand United when he came off the bench as a substitute.
Spirits are jovial in the Brakpan camp and they will hope to carry the winning momentum into the clash against neighbours and rivals Springs, in Springs, on Saturday, July 9.
Point-scorers for Brakpan against East Rand United were: Tries: Gido Horn, Ian Oosthuizen, Theo Bekker, Tobie Botha, Wikus van der Berg, Leon “Sweef” Potgieter, Darren Lindsay and Tiaan Ramat. Conversions: Horn (four) and Ashley Buchler.
