Oracle of Delphi
KC Hill
Denise Gabbard
Paladin
Craig HillSuper 14 Force Defeat Cheetahs
February 21st 2009 04:00
The Western Force is on the board in the 2009 Investec Super 14 after a nail-biting 16-10 win over the Cheetahs from a tough struggle at Subiaco Oval tonight.
Both sides scored a try apiece in a match that went down to the wire, perhaps reflecting the pressure which surrounded the two sides heading into the contest on the back of their first round defeats.
Although the Cheetahs arrived in Perth with a bleak touring record in the tow, having lost all 13 matches previously played in Australia and New Zealand; the South Africans were always in striking range tonight which kept the Western Australian crowd on the edge of their seats.
The Force led 16-7 just after halftime and appeared poised to break away, only to be reined in by the dogged resistance of the Cheetahs.
Not only did the men from Bloemfontein survive a 10-minute period reduced to 14 men, conceding just a dropped goal; they then wiped that deficit with a 62nd minute penalty goal which set up a desperate finish – with less than the margin of a converted try separating the teams.
In a nervous last 10 minutes, the Force largely controlled the field position, without ever looking likely to land the knock out blow.
For all that, they seldom looked like being threatened either, with the game grinding to a halt in a stalemate played largely between the Cheetahs goal-line and the halfway line.
“We worked hard for it. A lot didn’t go our way but we presented ourselves with a lot of opportunity, and we hung tough when we had too,” an upbeat Western Force coach John Mitchell said afterwards.
“We controlled the front 50 [of the ground] and kept our composure. Even though the scoreboard didn’t reflect it, I felt we were always really in control of the match – they deserve a lot of credit for keeping it as close as it was.”
The Force had opened the scoring in the ninth minute via a Matt Giteau penalty goal, but the trench warfare nature of the game then set in as the contest went scoreless for 22 minutes before the Qantas Wallabies flyhalf intervened again.
Having twice been narrowly denied themselves; once through being held up and then once through being grounded inches short of the goal-line; the Cheetahs conceded the opening try after Giteau opened up a gap to work James O’Connor across close to the goal-line.
Confronted by a sliding defensive line that was back peddling, the 19-year-old Wallabies star was untroubled in slipping by his marker to score handy to the goal-posts.
Giteau converted to push the Force out to a 10-0 advantage, but this was cut to three, five minutes later after a combination of some good fortune and grand perseverance from Cheetahs winger Danwel Dumas.
Following a loose ball that had been poked through optimistically by a team-mate, Dumas hacked it up the sideline, and then cleaned up the scraps to score, after it had eluded the Force defenders.
Jacques-Louis Potgieter converted to get his side within three, but the Force finished the opening period strongly, adding a second penalty goal to their point’s tally when the Cheetahs cynically infringed at the breakdown in order to slow down the home side’s momentum.
The offence, in this instance committed by flanker Heinrich Brussouw, not only cost the Cheetahs three points; it also saw referee James Leckie issue the visitors with a final warning about offending in the contact zone.
This became significant within five minutes of the re-start when prop Wiun du Preez committed an illegality inside the Cheetahs half which saw him banished by the match official.
The flow on effect from that decision was that the game was reduced to uncontested scrums for the 10 minutes du Preez was absent, as the Cheetahs were already down to two fit props by that point.
It took the home side just a minute to capitalize on the Cheetahs’ man-power reduction, with Giteau utilizing the field position to slot a dropped goal, but that proved to be the Force’s final scoring advance of an at times frustrating evening.
The Force now rearm in preparation for three matches away, starting next weekend in Canberra, while the Cheetahs will continue their tour against the Queensland Reds on Sunday week at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane.
For the Western Force: Try by James O’Connor; conversion, dropped goal and 2 penalty goals by Matt Giteau.
For the Cheetahs: Try by Danwel Dumas; conversion and a penalty goal by Jacques-Louis Potgieter.
Halftime: Western Force 13, Cheetahs 7
Referee: James Leckie
ARU
Both sides scored a try apiece in a match that went down to the wire, perhaps reflecting the pressure which surrounded the two sides heading into the contest on the back of their first round defeats.
Although the Cheetahs arrived in Perth with a bleak touring record in the tow, having lost all 13 matches previously played in Australia and New Zealand; the South Africans were always in striking range tonight which kept the Western Australian crowd on the edge of their seats.
The Force led 16-7 just after halftime and appeared poised to break away, only to be reined in by the dogged resistance of the Cheetahs.
Not only did the men from Bloemfontein survive a 10-minute period reduced to 14 men, conceding just a dropped goal; they then wiped that deficit with a 62nd minute penalty goal which set up a desperate finish – with less than the margin of a converted try separating the teams.
James O'Connor Force
In a nervous last 10 minutes, the Force largely controlled the field position, without ever looking likely to land the knock out blow.
For all that, they seldom looked like being threatened either, with the game grinding to a halt in a stalemate played largely between the Cheetahs goal-line and the halfway line.
“We worked hard for it. A lot didn’t go our way but we presented ourselves with a lot of opportunity, and we hung tough when we had too,” an upbeat Western Force coach John Mitchell said afterwards.
“We controlled the front 50 [of the ground] and kept our composure. Even though the scoreboard didn’t reflect it, I felt we were always really in control of the match – they deserve a lot of credit for keeping it as close as it was.”
The Force had opened the scoring in the ninth minute via a Matt Giteau penalty goal, but the trench warfare nature of the game then set in as the contest went scoreless for 22 minutes before the Qantas Wallabies flyhalf intervened again.
Having twice been narrowly denied themselves; once through being held up and then once through being grounded inches short of the goal-line; the Cheetahs conceded the opening try after Giteau opened up a gap to work James O’Connor across close to the goal-line.
Confronted by a sliding defensive line that was back peddling, the 19-year-old Wallabies star was untroubled in slipping by his marker to score handy to the goal-posts.
Giteau converted to push the Force out to a 10-0 advantage, but this was cut to three, five minutes later after a combination of some good fortune and grand perseverance from Cheetahs winger Danwel Dumas.
Following a loose ball that had been poked through optimistically by a team-mate, Dumas hacked it up the sideline, and then cleaned up the scraps to score, after it had eluded the Force defenders.
Jacques-Louis Potgieter converted to get his side within three, but the Force finished the opening period strongly, adding a second penalty goal to their point’s tally when the Cheetahs cynically infringed at the breakdown in order to slow down the home side’s momentum.
The offence, in this instance committed by flanker Heinrich Brussouw, not only cost the Cheetahs three points; it also saw referee James Leckie issue the visitors with a final warning about offending in the contact zone.
This became significant within five minutes of the re-start when prop Wiun du Preez committed an illegality inside the Cheetahs half which saw him banished by the match official.
The flow on effect from that decision was that the game was reduced to uncontested scrums for the 10 minutes du Preez was absent, as the Cheetahs were already down to two fit props by that point.
It took the home side just a minute to capitalize on the Cheetahs’ man-power reduction, with Giteau utilizing the field position to slot a dropped goal, but that proved to be the Force’s final scoring advance of an at times frustrating evening.
The Force now rearm in preparation for three matches away, starting next weekend in Canberra, while the Cheetahs will continue their tour against the Queensland Reds on Sunday week at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane.
For the Western Force: Try by James O’Connor; conversion, dropped goal and 2 penalty goals by Matt Giteau.
For the Cheetahs: Try by Danwel Dumas; conversion and a penalty goal by Jacques-Louis Potgieter.
Halftime: Western Force 13, Cheetahs 7
Referee: James Leckie
ARU
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