Superb Allies win Golden Lions League

HOËRSKOOL Alberton hosted the finals of the Golden Lions League on July 21.

In the feature game, Allies took on Hoërskool Randburg, attempting to be the second team from Alberton to win the first team trophy after the heroics of Hoërskool Dinamika in last year’s final against Hoërskool Linden. Randburg beat the hosts in the final pool game, the home team’s only loss of the season.

Before the game, it was quite obvious that the Allies side were a bundle of nerves. They got off to the worst possible start when they conceded two early tries in the first 10 minutes. They were making mistakes, many of them basic errors that were certainly not in character.

A feature of this Allies team is their ability to mentally bounce back, something which their predecessors didn’t have in the last few years. It looked at the start like there was no way back for the team and that the final would be an anti-climax for the hosts. But boy was I surprised with how the team pulled it together under a wonderful leader, Jonothan Potgieter. The senior players decided to take the game to Randburg and play as they have all year. Importantly they had to, first of all, keep their hands on the ball and play in Randburg’s half. When they did that, it was a different game entirely.

It is a difficult job to give a man of the match award when it was obviously a super team effort. I would like to mention fly half Francois Myburgh though. He is really good when kicking at poles at times but when his rhythm is not there then easier opportunities can go begging. When Allies’ nerves settled and they put pressure on Randburg, Randburg started making mistakes and gave three penalties away which Myburgh managed to slot before half-time.

In the second half, the senior players like Potgieter, Ruben van den Berg and Sifundo Nkosi put up their hands and spurred the team on to a super win. Van den Berg scored twice, Nkosi once and Potgieter crashed over too. With Myburgh slotting two conversions for a personal tally of 13 points, Allies reached 33-14 with about 10 minutes left.

In the last few minutes, they conceded a yellow card for an illegal tackle and Randburg seized the opportunity to score an unconverted try, but Allies had done enough to win their second trophy of the year having won the NWU Super Series as well.

Hoërskool Alberton can be very proud of their team and what they have achieved. The coaches deserve credit too as well as Jorrie Jordaan, the principal.

*Reports on the u-16 and u-14 games in a next issue.

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