Cobras spoil the Nadoes party
The Steinhoff Cobras will represent UCT at the 2012 Steinhoff Koshuis Champs, after beating the Steinhoff Tornadoes in a hard-fought Internal League Final at the Green Mile on Wednesday evening.
With all sixteen teams in action on the night - the final one of the Internal League year - you could feel the tension in the air as we drew closer to the Grand Finals; the two main matches being the Plate Final and the Cup Final.
The Plate Final saw the Steinhoff Panthers and Steinhoff Shebeen Boys go head-to-head - the curtain-raiser for the final.
The Panthers had to dig deep for their win. The Shebeen Boys, with far more experience in their team, led 7-5 throughout the match but a penalty late in the match by the Panthers won it for them.
The match of the evening that drew the crowd was definitely the final between Steinhoff Cobras and Steinhoff Nadoes and if you were here you could see why. There was a crowd out to support their teams as big as what we have for a Varsity Cup semifinal at Groote Schuur... it was great to see that this rivalry between the Steinhoff Cobras and Steinhoff Nadoes can attract so many fans.
The Steinhoff Tornadoes made the Steinhoff Cobras defend in the early stages of the match but it was the Cobras who drew first blood with a converted try. The Nadoes then came back and won a penalty which they converted to take the score to 7-3 - keeping themselves in the match.
The Cobras went on the attack after the restart and soon got another penalty as they drew the Nadoes into making errors. The Cobras opted to convert this too and went into the break at 10-3 up.
The Tornadoes then came back and scored almost immediately from the restart but missed conversion. The game was now a two-point battle at 10-8 to the Cobras.
The Cobras, however, then broke loose and scored another try to make it 15-8. The scored stayed this way until the final whistle... an enthralling finale to yet another exciting season of Internal League rugby on the Green Mile!
Well done to all the teams - especially the Cobras who will fly UCT's flag in the 2012 Steinhoff Koshuisrugby Championships.
UCT's Steinhoff Koshuisrugby Grand Final fixtures/results:
PLATE SECTION:
7th/8th place play-off:
Steinhoff Marquard 0 Steinhoff Ikhaya 20
5th/6th place play-off:
Steinhoff CVU Viking 17 Steinhoff Kopano 0
3rd/4th place play-off:
Steinhoff Smuts 0 Steinhoff Turtles 20
Final:
Steinhoff Panthers 8 Steinhoff Shebeen Boys 7
CUP SECTION:
7th/8th place play-off:
Steinhoff Cats 5 Steinhoff Ubumbo 12
5th/6th place play-off:
Steinhoff Clarendon 14 Steinhoff Spanners 17
3rd/4th place play-off:
Steinhoff Wild Boys 8 Steinhoff 17
Final:
Steinhoff Cobras 15 Steinhoff Tornadoes 8
The Cup Final teams:
Steinhoff Cobras: 15 Pete Haw, 14 Mikhail Maasdorp, 13 Nico Loizides, 12 James Bailes, 11 Brendan Raubenheimer, 10 Warren Butler, 9 Ian Armstrong, 8 Kyle Rennie, 7 Dino Loizides, 6 Callan Artus, 5 Evan Strauss, 4 Tom Horne, 3 Stewart Pienaar, 2 Khotso Micha, 1 Greame Lucas Bull.
Replacements: 16 Warren Handley, 17 Shane Swanish, 18 Jaime Manuel, 19 Nicholas Bailey, 20 Brian Faure, 21 Guy Whitfield, 22 Mike Blankenberg, 23 Geoff van Ryneveld.
Steinhoff Nadoes: 15 Aviwe Mgijima, 14 Matthew Healey, 13 Curtis Middleton, 12 Berek Mitchell, 11 Stuart Hablutzal, 10 Jarred Stokes, 9 Kyle Wickens, 8 Theo van Aspern 7 Matthew Morris, 6 Oliver Johnston, 5 Dayne Allenbrook, 4 Josh Gloak, 3 Greg Dyer, 2 Phil Quma, 1 Neil Naude.
Replacements: 16 Greg Jenkins, 17 Brad van der Westhuizen, 18 Graysen Wright, 19 Brennan Wright, 20 Jono Hill, 21 Ruan Billet, 22 Guy Loxton, 23 Mike Reid.
By Clement le Roux
