Although St Andrew’s ran out 24-5 winners, the first team rugby match against Kingswood in Grahamstown on Saturday was much tighter than the final margin suggests.
With a large crowd surrounding Lower Field, St Andrew’s again started slowly, and it was Kingswood who broke the deadlock.
Scrumhalf Nicholas Lawson-Smith crossed for a try after poor ball control in the scrum by the St Andrew’s pack.
It did not take St Andrew’s long to bounce back from this setback, however, and after showing good strength in the tackle, centre Charlie Fleming went over.
Murray Wilson converted to put St Andrew’s 7-5 ahead.
On the stroke of half time, St Andrew’s showed good continuity and discipline close to the line, with Fleming scoring his second to put them 12-5 up at the break.
The second half saw St Andrew’s dominate possession and territory.
This was not always converted into points, but further tries to hard-working captain Alex Menage and speedster Matthew Royle saw St Andrew’s victorious at 24-5.
• The much-anticipated derby day fixtures proved yet another unique experience for all the sides involved.
St Andrew’s teams dominated the U14 matches, winning all three, but the U16 division was evenly contested, with a win apiece and two draws.
The 16A game proved to be an arm wrestle as Kingswood started the game brightly to lead 1-0. St Andrew’s showed their determination and composure to respond with an equaliser.
They then dominated most of the match and were rewarded with two well-worked goals to lead 3-1 with the last quarter to play.
The Kingswood attack gained momentum and pulled a goal back to set the scene for an exciting finish.
With the last play of the match, Kingswood were awarded a penalty corner which was excellently converted to seal a memorable comeback and a 3-3 draw.
In the open division, Kingswood 3rd and 4th teams achieved good victories, while St Andrew’s 2nd impressed to win 2-0.
The first team match was won 3-1 by St Andrew’s after Kingswood took a first-half lead through a well-constructed penalty corner.
In the early stages, St Andrew’s missed a number of goal-scoring opportunities which kept the opposition in the game.
The character and composure of the St Andrew’s team was put to the test and the team responded to take the honours.
Peter Jarvis had another outstanding match and his second goal, in particular, was a superb individual effort after the St Andrew’s team had struggled to get the ball past an extremely impressive Kingswood keeper.