Bishops U12A keep Wynberg at bay

Bishops managed to play themselves to victory in a hard-fought encounter against a resurgent Wynberg side that simply could not find their way through a determined defensive effort from the hosts.

From the kick-off by Wynberg the home side were under tremendous pressure for almost the entire first half. Wynberg showed great resolve to take the game to Bishops who had beaten them convincingly on their home turf by a margin of 29-0 earlier in the season. Coach Andre Engel had since made some telling positional switches which had rejuvenated this promising Wynberg side. The most influential of these has been the move from center to flyhalf of Mika Ekström who has demonstrated a willingness to spread the ball wide and provided a strong physical presence in the inside channel to counter the strong running Bishops eighthman.

The touch kicking of Ekström and captain Brian Foster kept the hosts pinned in their own half and Wynberg looked certain to breach the solid defence of Bishops, but it was this gutsy effort by the Bishops backline and loose trio that kept Wynberg off the score sheet in the first half.

With the visitors threatening, a turnover ball from a ruck was quickly spread wide by flyhalf Harry for the home side and an overlap created space for their hard-running number 11 to break down the left and run the length of the field to score under the posts against the run of play. The conversion was good and halftime saw Bishops lead 7-0.

This score by the home side galvanised them to come out with all guns firing in the second half and they looked very dangerous on attack using the width of the field and stretching the Wynberg defence. Some ill-disciplined play in the mid-field saw Wynberg conceed two penalties for being off-side in defence and with Bishops taking the quick tap a try was scored in the left corner. Conversion was wide and the score stood at 12-0 to Bishops.

Another period of sustained attack from the home team was awarded with a simple try from direct running and some sloppy defence from the Wynberg players out wide. The conversion was short and Bishops had the upper hand going into the final ten minutes of the match at 17-0.

Credit to the visitors for not giving up and continuing to attack at all cost. The backline never really got going from set pieces as they were taking the ball in a stationary position making it easy for Bishops to defend, but good interplay between backs and forwards from broken play saw them make headway down the right side of the field.

With a scrum taking place inside Bishops half on the far left an inspired decision by Ekström to switch play from the right to the left by feeding the ball to wing Jonathan Peterson saw him make twenty meters down the left touchline. With the forwards seizing the opportunity of driving hard it was lock Keegan Afrika who crossed the Bishops whitewash to score. Brian Foster's conversion was short. 17-5 to Bishops.

With the bit between the teeth the Wynberg side now had some belief and stepped up their attacking efforts in the remaining five minutes. Keegan Afrika featured strongly in the driving play and flank Levi produced a good rucking effort to take the Bishops opponents off the ball.

For all the attacking play by Wynberg it was Bishops' defence which held firm in the face of adversity and saw them close out the match for a close-fought win.

Final score: 17-5.