Gardens no walk in park for Bombers

THE last games of the first round of the EP Grand Challenge will see all teams in action tomorrow before they shift their attention to the President's Cup, starting next week.

In what is arguably the pick of the six clashes, in-form Gardens will battle it out with African Bombers in Rosedale.

The home side have turned their season around after going through a rough patch, losing three consecutive games. Now they are on a roll, having won three in a row. Gardens again proved too strong for Progress last week, while Bombers shared the spoils with Spring Rose.

The Zwide side go into the encounter eager to end the first round of the Grand Challenge on a high, but it will take a lot of determination to beat the Eastern Cape Super 12 champions in their backyard.

Gap Despatch, who are the only side yet to lose in this campaign, will lock horns with the Brumbies in Despatch.

The high-riding former Cell C Community Cup champions will be aiming to repeat last week's demolition of Park against the Grahamstown outfit.

Brumbies, who last won a game three weeks ago against Rose, will have to dig deep to upset the confident Despatch.

Caltex Crusaders will have momentum on their side when they play Progress at Saders. The Port Elizabeth team collected maximum points away to the Brumbies last week, while Progress choked against Gardens.

The Saders players have gelled well as the campaign has progressed and they have recorded some impressive wins.

The Uitenhage side, on the other hand, have been going through a rough patch and are eager to get back to winning ways.

Fresh from a win against NMMU last week, PE SAPS will be planning to put wounded Park to the sword at Kemsley Park.

The policemen managed what other teams have failed to do when they beat NMMU, while Park are coming from an embarrassing 101-0 drubbing at the hands of Despatch.

Rose host Kruisfontein at the New Brighton Oval, with the home said aiming to take full advantage of the visitors' lack of game time after Kruisfontein had a bye last week.

Another motivating factor is that Rose will want to emulate rivals Bombers' win over the Humansdorp side two weeks ago.

Struggling Harlequins will lock horns with NMMU at the Adcock Stadium and can expect a backlash after last week's defeat.

NMMU are likely to be as dangerous as a wounded lion after being stunned by PE SAPS and they could vent their frustration out on the northern areas side.

Quins, who are at the bottom of the log after only managing a single win in this campaign, will be hoping to surprise the students, but they will need a massive effort to pull that off.

All the games kick off at 3.30pm. - Mkhululi Ndamase