Afterburner kicks in for United to oust Brakpan

A scintillating second-half showing by 2018 finalists East Rand United blew Brakpan off their own turf when the two sides met at the Bosman Stadium in Brakpan for their Valke Peregrine League quarter-final tie on August 10.

Spurred on by home ground advantage and a longing to upset the highly favoured visitors from Reiger Park, Brakpan put out an impressive first-half showing and were deserved leaders during the recess.

United, meanwhile, were kept at bay and were made to work for their breaks as they somewhat struggled to get out of first gear.

Their class, however, came through as they struck early in the second half with two quick tries.

It proved to be the turning point of the absorbing encounter as heads dropped in the Brakpan camp.

The floodgates opened and the visitors went in for the kill as they completed their 26-0 second-half rout.

United coach Alvandre Maart said: “We were not switched on when we started the game. We kicked off and we were in front of play. They got a scrum and from the scrum we made two high tackles and had hands in the ruck. Brakpan capitalised on our mistakes.

“We also had three line breaks but poor decision-making cost us. It felt like I was watching an under-10 rugby game. At half-time we recapped and identified the positives and negatives and played to our strengths. It looked like a totally different team in the second half. Credit to the boys for the win.”

The encounter was something of a grudge match, with both teams given more than enough encouragement during the build-up.

While the hosts were desperate to expose United’s weaknesses, United had their own motive: to stamp their authority and to make Brakpan assistant coach and former United head coach Derrick Sampson eat humble pie following a series of taunting messages by the coach on social media directed at United.

When the Advertiser reached out to the former United boss, he commented: “Our guys took the execution to our game plan lightly. We had a game plan and had watched a few clips on East Rand’s games, but it didn’t go to plan. Jackie (Jonkers) and Clayton (Gindan) were superb.

“Clayton was their general and Jackie will just step around you. I give them credit. Those two quick tries after half-time totally killed us, but overall the game was good and it was played in good spirit.

“We competed in the front, especially in the first half, but East Rand has one of the most dangerous backlines in the province and that’s where we lost the game.

“It was a learning curve for our youngsters. We are building and we will come back stronger next season.

“It was a great game for rugby and was well supported. Congratulations to East Rand, I’m happy for them.”

United skipper Jonathan Botha added: “We know how Brakpan play, we know they are a physical side and like to disrupt the game and that is exactly what we prepared for. It was more a mental game than anything else.

“The whole week (during the build-up) I worked with the boys towards discipline and absorbing pressure. The hype made by Brakpan on social media gave us the indication that they were ready and wanted to beat us. Therefore, the whole first half my message to the boys was just keep up absorbing the pressure and the points will come, and that’s exactly what happened.

“A few poor decisions from our side cost us three definite try-scoring opportunities where we should have just let the ball do the work and we decided to put up another phase or two.

“Besides that, our defence was great. They only managed to score one try against us with all the possession they had. They made the game very loose and we adapted well in the second half. Looking forward to the semi-finals now, all guns blazing.”

The skipper finished as one of the try scorers along with Jonkers and Gindan who, with big inside centre Waylon Thompson, wreaked havoc when United clicked.

Other scorers were Leon Potgieter and Sibongile Jomba. Cameron Rooi slotted four conversions and a single penalty.

United travel to Vereeniging for their semi-final tie this weekend (August 24).