26-10-2019 EZRC Oemoemenoe 1 vs. RC Hookers 1
| COMPETITION: | Ereklasse |
| HOME TEAM: | Oemoemenoe |
| VISITING TEAM: | Hookers 1 |
| VENUE: | De Sprong, Middelburg |
| DATE: | 26 October 2019 |
| REFEREE: | Louis |
| TEAM: | Oemoemenoe Senior Heren 1 |
| CAPTAIN: | Andictor Petelo |
RESULT
| HOME TEAM | VISITING TEAM | |
| HALFTIME SCORE | 7 | 8 |
| FULLTIME SCORE | 19 | 28 |
Too late to come back. A full home crowd and windy conditions were an interesting scene for our game against Hookers. Still nursing several injuries from the previous week meant we didn’t have our full-strength team again.
The first half was slow for both teams. Neither seemed to have any urgency and the game suffered. Deniel crossed the line to put the first points on the board. Joey followed up with a successful conversion. Hookers responded with a penalty goal and an unconverted try. Mitchel injured his shoulder and spent some time off the field as a precautionary measure. He was replaced with Joshua who is versatile enough to fit comfortably into the forwards or backs. Heading into half time the score was 7-8 to Hookers.
The half-time talk was frank and constructive. The boys knew what needed to be fixed and it was a matter of trying to execute the game plan effectively. Moving into the second half was going to be a test on how fast the boys could change from their slow start.
A penalty in favour of Hookers into the 45th minute was the beginning of their steady climb into the lead. Our boys remained flat and still had not found any shape to their game. A few positional changes and the boys looked like their former self again. The forwards were making the gain line and the backs signature long passes were connecting. Some remarkable running from Deniel showed his class at fullback. We capitalized from his talent by Andi scoring two tries, one which was converted from Joey. Unfortunately, we left it too late for a comeback and the final score was 28-19 to Hookers.
Player of the day was Gabor. He ran onto the ball hard, broke the line and scrummed well. Danny was also solid in the forwards. He carried a lot of ball safely when under pressure.
The loss has left us in fourth. A reasonable place to sit as we continue through the first-round robin of our pool. We have a break for the next four weeks which will give us good time to reflect and rejuvenate bodies.