PHOTOS: Allen Glen sides take home two trophies as U/16s win after the hooter
Two of Allen Glen High Scool's three sides won their finals in the inaugural Championship Trophy.
Allen Glen High School’s U/14 and U/16 rugby teams were crowned champions of the inaugural Championship Trophy in their respective age groups on Saturday, 18 August.
The U/14 side were first up on finals day in Zeerust, against Wolmaransstad, seeking redemption for the First Team, and of course to make the three-hour trip to Zeerust worthwhile. They did so with a dominant performance that saw their openside flank (number 7) Ndumiso Mabunga dot down an incredible four tries.
Allen Glen’s juniors got off to a slow start, but dominated the majority of the match, the second half in particular, to run out 27–10 victors. Winning the inaugural U/14 Championship Trophy was the icing on the cake for the U/14 side, who were also the first Allen Glen champions in the Golden Lions Middle Schools U/14 league this year.
Next up was the U/15 side who faced stern opposition from Hoër Tegniese Skool Klerksdorp’s U/15 team. The match was a scrappy affair tainted with some questionable officiating as both sides struggled to play their best rugby.
Allen Glen found themselves 19–17 ahead in the dying moments, but then disaster struck. Following a Klerksdorp clearance kick from their 22m area, Allen Glen failed to take the loose ball in hand, allowing Klerksdorp to hoof it ahead once again, chase it down and dot down a match-winning try in the last minute of the game, to win by 22–19.
Finally came the U/16 side, which last year became Allen Glen’s first champions in the Golden Lions Middle Schools U/15 league and then the school’s first Golden Lions Middle Schools U/16 champions this year. In the final of the Championship Trophy, they once again found themselves facing the team from Hoërskool President that they had defeated in the U/15 Golden Lions final last year.
The game would prove to be the match of the day, as it went back and forth between the two teams. President managed to score a try in the final five minutes to go 20–14 ahead, apparently putting the game to bed. Allen Glen refused to rest on their laurels however, and fought past the final hooter.
Two minutes after the hooter had gone, Allen Glen captain Dylan van Heerden crashed over the line under the posts to get within one point of President. Offentse Moraka was faced with a nerve-wracking conversion in front of the posts to win the game. He duly converted, handing Allen Glen a 21–20 victory, their third over President in finals in the last two years.
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