United led 26-22, going into the half-time break of the Valke Peregrine League encounter, in this high-scoring thriller on Saturday, July 15.
A productive usage of their lion’s share of possession in the second stanza, however, saw the visitors overturn that advantage.
Not all was lost for ‘The Graveyard’ outfit, though, as their two bonus points from the game through their minimum of four tries scored and losing by seven points or less, confirmed their spot in the semi-finals.
They join defending champions Brakpan, early runaway log leaders Springs and Vereeniging.
Fixtures will be released soon.
The bigger and stronger visitors starved United of possession, courtesy of their pack winning the breakdown battle. This allowed quality ball for their backs, who proved hard to stop at full speed.
The hosts, however, were on the money for their half-time lead, with their running game again proving near-impossible to nullify. They were leading in points scored on the log leading to the game, with 330.
Their offence was again led by flying left wing Cameron Lentoor, who contributed 10 points through his two tries.
True to the team’s motto, the likes of Tiaan Ramat (pictured) never gave up.It’s the same running game that tested Vereeniging’s scrambling defence until the final whistle.
United looked good and dangerous on the offence – quickly spreading the ball through the hands but they still gave the opposition far too many chances on the defence – and Vereeniging took full advantage.
“We lacked a bit of urgency on defense and slipped first time tackles but it’s nothing major and nothing that can’t be fixed,” said United coach Stephan Nel.
“Vereeniging starved us of the ball, especially in the second half. If we had more ball, perhaps things would’ve been better.”
Quizzed on his level of satisfaction with his team’s performance, the mentor continued: “I’m not really happy but not too disappointed either.
“The boys played well – we were just let down by making the wrong decision like kicking the ball away when we needed to keep it in hand.”
United scorers: Tries: Cameron Lentoor (2), Jackie Jonkers, Tiaan Ramat, Bakkies Bakumeni, Fanie van Staden (captain).
Conversions: Andy Huysamen (4)
United squad:
1 Shaun de Wet, 2 Jonathan Botha, 3 Saki Klaas, 4 Bakkies Bakumeni, 5 Jacques van Tonder, 6 Ruan Noeth, 7 Kieran Campbell, 8 Fanie van Staden (captain); 9 Tiaan Ramat, 10 Andy Huysamen, 11 Cameron Lentoor, 12 Igor Engelbrecht, 13 Waylon Thompson, 14 Jackie Jonkers, 15 Clayton Gindan
Replacements
16 Andre Myburgh, 17 Dirk van Wyk, 18 Calvin Jantjies, 19 Piet Mnguni, 20 Monde Petela, 21 Bruce Mackenzie, 22 Luzuko Ndanda – @SabeloBoksburg
