Reds fight back to secure draw against Maritzburg in a thriller
JOBURG - King Edward VII School and Maritzburg College play in the game of the season.
In what was arguably the best game of the season, King Edward VII School (KES) and Maritzburg College delivered a pulsating game of schoolboy rugby which ended in a 32–all draw.
The exciting encounter saw a total of nine tries being scored with the Reds (KES) scoring five to Maritzburg’s four.
The Reds started like a house on fire and were the first to cross the line when Kennedy Mpeku dotted down and Marc Morrison converted for a 7–0 lead after 14 minutes.
A few minutes later, Mpeku was once again in the thick of things when he converted a 48m penalty to increase the Reds’ lead.
However, the visitors hit back with a try of their own courtesy of Matthew Diedricks, and soon after Andile Khanyile added another try for Maritzburg to lead 15–10 at the break.
Maritzburg continued where they left off in the second half with flyhalf Ruben van Blerk adding another three points.
KES replied when tighthead prop Keegan Glade thundered over as the home side began their fight back against their arch rivals.
Matthew King of Maritzburg crossed the whitewash soon after to extend his team’s lead by 10 points with less than 15 minutes remaining.
But Mpeku once again showed great skill and agility as he blazed through the visitors’ defence in a brilliant weaving 50m run.
The action continued when Ayanda Duma of Maritzburg looked to have sealed the game when he scored after some neat work by his forwards from a line out.
Maritzburg looked like they were running away with the game until Mpeku again produced a moment of magic after some brilliant work by the forwards to score his hat-trick try. He converted the resulting kick to take the score to 32–27 with five minutes remaining in favour of the visitors.
The game was set for an exciting finish as the Reds piled on the pressure in search of that all-important try. Replacement scrumhalf Kalvin Mills saved the day for KES when he crashed over after the hooter to level the scores at 32–all.
Unfortunately, Mpeku pushed the conversion wide and the teams had to settle for a draw in a game that saw a wonderful display of schoolboy rugby.
