Carlos Kambaekwa
Windhoek-FNB Western Suburbs made short work of their much-anticipated Namibia Rugby Union (NRU) Premier League clash against visiting Reho Falcons at Suburbs Park on Saturday.
Buoyed by a partisan home crowd, the hosts found themselves trailing after the Rehobothers took a shock lead from a well-executed penalty kick via the educated boot of fly-half Delron Brandt.
However, Suburbs regrouped and responded in the most dignified fashion, scoring four tries complemented by three conversions and a penalty kick. Flying winger Japhet Tjindjo opened the floodgates when he zigzagged his way through a cluster of defenders before crossing the whitewash for an unconverted try.
Enterprising fullback Nicky Cloete extended Suburbs’ lead with a try before Collins Omalu added his name on the score sheet with a copybook try.
Richard Mupeua touched down for his first pair of tries before Justin Nel returned the compliment from the resultant conversions to give Suburbs an unassailable 29-9 lead going into the changeover.
Mupuua was in the thick of things again when he scored Suburbs’ fifth try. Fidel Micolleney and Aleck Botha completed the riot with a try apiece to all but end the match as a contest.
The visitors were not to be outdone either and scored two face-saving tries in the dying minutes of an otherwise entertaining match.
Doubtlessly, Falcon’s best performer on the day, Brandt, added to his three penalties when the slippery national youth team player left his markers for dead with an amazing solo run that starched almost three-quarters of the field.
With burly prop Jacky Platt making his presence felt in the mauls, Falcon scored their second try through centre Casey Beukes. Brandt added two more penalties in the second half for a personal tally of 16 points.
As the match wore on, Suburbs head coach Shaun Kaizemi made wholesale changes to his tiring line up, giving a number of youngsters an opportunity to test their strength. And that is how the final score remained: FNB Western Suburbs 53- 21 Reho Falcons.
Despite the overwhelming victory, Suburbs mentor Kaizemi expressed concerns over his team’s inability to retain possession.
“We made a lot of wrong judgments in crucial areas. Overall, I’m happy with the performance but we need to improve when we travel down sea level next weekend for our league assignment against Kudus at the House of Pain in Narravile, Walvis Bay.”