Carlos Kambaekwa
Windhoek-Despite entering the field of play without half of their regular starters, FNB Western Suburbs proved too much of a hot potato to handle for Rehoboth Rugby Club in the Namibia Rugby Union (NRU) Premier league clash on Saturday.
The under-strength hosts defeated their out-of-sorts visitors by 25 points to 10 in a scrappy match that was largely dominated by resolute defending from both sets of forwards.
Suburbs took the match to their opponents, enjoying territorial advantage in the opening stages of the match, but could not covert their dominance into tangible returns.
The visitors took the lead against the run of play in the 4th minute when outside centre Hillean Beukses dispatched a penalty through the goalposts to make it 3-0 in favour of Rehoboth.
Shortly afterwards, the dominant hosts went close to cross the whitewash twice in succession, but that oak door of the Rehoboth defense held on.
The green and white outfit finally visited the whitewash after a sustained onslaught, which saw giant hooker Aleck Botha register his name on the score sheet for an unconverted try (5-3).
Suburbs extended their slender lead when exciting rookie winger Junior Alweendo, making his premier league debut, cut through a cluster of defenders before he played a cleverly executed chip over the advancing flatfooted Rehoboth defense.
Flanker Vakomboka Kamboo returned the compliment when he ran unchallenged to touch down near the posts.
Cardo Swartz, taking over the shooting duties in the absence of regular kicker Justin Nel, once again missed the target from close range – much to the chagrin of the Suburbs’ diehards.
The match was characterised by unbelievably poor kicking, with both sets of kickers missing a couple from what appeared to be easily convertible positions.
Suburbs went into the changeover with a 13-3 cushion after a well-taken penalty kick via the boot of outside centre Cardo Swarts. Giant winger Collins Omalu soon burst through the ball-watching Rehoboth rearguard to score Suburbs third try, which was duly goaled by Swartz (18-3).
New kid on the block Alweendo crowned a near-faultless performance with a try when he dived in the right hand corner for the host’s forth try of the match, to make it 25-3, although Swartz sent the conversion wide off the posts.
The visitors scored a consolation try in the dying minutes of the match through inside centre Chase Diergaardt, whose try was successfully converted by Beukes for a respectable final score line of 25-10 in favour of the hosts.
In other action, hosts Walvis Bay Rugby Club shocked second-placed FNB Wanderers by dispatching the title chasing ‘White Stallions’ 22-15, while Trustco United triumphed 15-7 over bottom-ranked Reho Falcons in a low-scoring match in Olympia.
Elsewhere, runaway log leaders Unam RC consolidated their position at the top of the log standings with a comprehensive 56-20 victory against the visiting Kudus.
Ocean Swallows defeated Oranjemund 34-15, whilst Dolphins saw off a stubborn West Coast Sharks 16-14 in a closely contested coastal derby. FNB Western Suburbs’ second strings came out tops (40-21) in the curtainraiser against the visiting Rehoboth RC.