Heartbreak for ER United u-21s
Vereeniging avenged their loss to East Rand United in last year’s u-21 final at the Barnard Stadium in Kempton Park when they beat United 41-40 in dramatic fashion at the same venue on August 12.
Vereeniging left it to the last act of the game to clinch the final, which was a decisive conversion that broke United hearts.
United comfortably won last year’s final 35-14 and history looked set to repeat itself, especially in the first-half where the Reiger Park outfit were all over their opponents like a rash.
Jean Diemieniet’s men scored an astounding five of their overall six tries in the first stanza to take a comfortable 35-10 lead into the half-time break.
Happenings after the break, however, no one could’ve expected. The local side blew their 25-point advantage as Vereeniging’s confidence grew with every point they were eating off the deficit.
There were stages in the second half where United seemed in control but Vereeniging never stopped pushing and their momentum kept growing until they were suddenly a converted try away from taking the lead and possibly the game.
United kicker Jaco Herselman had his chances of securing the game with a few penalties but he had left his kicking boots in the first-half as he missed the important kicks.
Herselman and his teammates were later made to rue their chances as Vereeniging’s kicker held his nerve to slot a high-pressure conversion to spark emotional celebrations.
“Heartbreaking is putting it lightly. I was devastated,” said United coach Diemieniet.
“We started a bit shaky with players’ nerves still a bit high. An early yellow card had us in shambles for a minute or two but funny enough, we seem to play our best rugby and scored twice with 14 men. We had a good first half where we kept to our structures.
“There were a couple of refereeing decisions which I think could’ve turned the game but as a team, you do not lose a game after leading 35-10 at half-time.
“Vereeniging was better in the second half and their goalkicker made the difference with a 100 per cent strike rate, kicking seven out of seven.
“I want to thank my assistant coaches Wikus Coetzer, Monde Petela and Monique Ganzwyk, our team manager, for all their help during the 2017 season.
“At ERU we have a saying, ‘never quit’. We will be back in 2018 more stronger and hungry to be the best.”
United scorers: Tries: Jean Pierre Fleming (2), Tiaan Balt (2), Werner Coetzee, Samson Nelumoni. Conversions: Jaco Herselman (5)
United: 1 Ruben Erasmus, 2 Brandon Lee Haywood, 3 Christiaan Enslin, 4 Jopie Jacobs, 5 Quinton van der Schyff (captain), 6 Howard Tarwireyi, 7 Marcus Plaatjies, 8 Jaco Herselman; 9 Ignatius van Coller, 10 Tinus Oosthuysen, 11 Hannes Alberts, 12 Werner Coetzee, 13 Jean Pierre Fleming, 14 Tiaan Balt, 15 Samson Nelumoni. Replacements: 16 Thys Myburgh, 17 Tristan Myburgh, 18 Nkosinathi Sibanyoni, 19 Sheldon van der Westhuizen, 20 Jason Mitchell, 21 Jason de Vos, 22 Robert Joubert – @SabeloBoksburg
