Falcons edge Griquas in Brakpan

The Falcons, outscoring their opponent by three tries to one, beat Griquas by 23-8 in their Currie Cup Round Three match at the Bosman Stadium in Brakpan on Saturday. It was the Falcons' first win of the season.

All three the Falcons' tries were scored in the second half, after they held a slender 6-5 lead at half-time and trailed 8-6 20 minutes into the second half.

The home side ground the visitors down in the first sixty minutes, before finally taking control of the game in the last quarter.

In the first half fly-half Louis Strydom kept the home side in the game with two penalty goals.

The only other score in the first half was a try by Griquas flank Heinrich Stride in injury time.

Griquas took the lead in the 55th minute when fly-half Conrad Barnard kicked a penalty.

But that seemed to spark the home side into life and they replied immediately replied with two tries.

Both tries were scored after errors at fullback by Griquas.

Zane Kirchner, who started at fullback for the visitors, could not hold on to a kick by Strydom in his own 22, which lead to the home side's first try by left winger Mpho Matsaung.

Tiger Mangwani, who took over at fullback shortly after Kirchner's blunder, made an almost identical mistake three minutes later that resulted in the second try scored by fullback Riaan Viljoen.

Griquas tried bravely in the final fifteen minutes, when the Falcons were down to 14 men after replacement prop Barrabas Koen was yellow carded, but could not penetrate the home side's organised defence.

The Falcons soaked up the pressure and finished the match stronger, with centre Hanno Coetzee scoring his team's third and final try in the 77th minute - to seal the result.

Griquas were also down to 14 men early in the game, when captain and No.8 Gareth Krause received a yellow card for a punch in his 50th match for Griquas.

The scorers:

For the Falcons:
Tries: Matsaung, Viljoen, Coetzee
Con: Viljoen
Pens: Strydom 2

For Griquas:
Try: Stride
Pen: Barnard

Teams:

Medicover Falcons: 15 Riaan Viljoen, 14 Brendan April, 13 Sam Willard, 12 Hanno Coetzee, 11 Mpho Matsaung, 10 Louis Strydom, 9 Sarel Pretorius, 8 Michael Vermaak, 7 Sean Plaatjies, 6 Piet Krause (captain), 5 Nico Luus, 4 Ryan Strudwick, 3 Piet Grobler, 2 Frik Venter, 1 Zane Killian.
Replacements: 16 Hercules Jansen van Vuuren, 17 Barabas Koen, 18 Dewald Senekal, 19 Dries van Schalkwyk, 20 Morné Adams, 21 Bosman Grobler, 22 Dean Okkers.

Wildeklawer Griquas: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Lafras Uys, 13 Brendell  Brandt, 12 Hercules Kruger, 11 Vuyani Dlomo, 10 Conrad Barnard, 9 JP Joubert, 8 Gareth Krause, 7 Heinrich Stride, 6 Jacques Burger, 5 Brendon Snyman, 4 Evan Botha, 3 Hedley Wessels, 2 Willie Wepener, 1 Jané du Toit.
Replacements: 16 Tiaan Liebenberg, 17 Eugene van Staden, 18 Wayne van Heerden, 19 Cilliers Coetzer, 20 Tertius Carse, 21 Alshaun Bock, 22 Tiger Mangweni.

Referee: Christie du Preez (Eastern Province)
Touch judges: Roderick Barry (Western Province), Pro Legoethe (Golden Lions)
Assessor: Richard Nash (Golden Lions)