Author: Chesley Daniels

Grahamstown Brumbies Rugby 1st XV beat Orlando Eagles from Thornhill 36-30 in a friendly encounter as part of their 20th Anniversary Celebrations at the Oval on Saturday. The Oval Sports Ground was the venue for this friendly encounter that was well attended. The young Brumbies side went in to the game as favourites although they rested most of their senior players for the upcoming league. After a dominant and one sided first half that saw Brumbies leading comfortably 31-3 at halftime, the favourites fell asleep in the second half that saw the visitors stage a remarkable comeback. Brumbies as the overwhelming favourites…

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The St Marks Rugby Club were once again boss in their Alicedale derby against Rosebuds on Saturday 22 February. The Bulls beat the Roses 25-15 in their annual Sundays River Competition in Transriviere, Alicedale. This win ensures St Marks retains bragging rights as the top rugby team in Alicedale. The Derby has become known for its exciting running rugby. This year’s play was fast and hard despite the heat – and the crowd loved it. Rosebuds didn’t make it easy for the winning side and St Marks had to dig deep for the win. The bigger forwards of the Bulls again shown…

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It was not for lack of talent that the Eastern Province Rural (Grahamstown) Cricket team didn’t win a match at the annual Rural Cricket South Africa (RCSA) Week in Kimberley recently. And the stats were not a true reflection what actually happened at the Northern Cape tournament. The side is young and fairly new and is currently in a building process – but this is a very exciting and promising bunch of players. Notably, they qualified for the all important National Week last year in the SWD and were joint winners with Boland. That already is an indication of the talent…

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The Manley Flats Cricket Club 2nds are the new Grahamstown Cricket Board (GCB) Second League Champs for the 2019/2020 Season. Manleys recorded a convincing 6-wicket bonus point win over Kenton at the weekend, ensuring the title with one game to spare. Kenton batted first and were bowled out for 110 runs. Manleys scored the winning runs in no time with veteran Barry Gleaves (50*) unbeaten. The top scorer helped make sure the champs reached 112/4. Manleys captain Craig Fourie starred with the ball, clinching impressive figures of 3/19. Meanwhile, Salem registered an all important 7-wicket bonus point over Rhodes, after they…

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The Brumbies, opened their Mayoral Cup campaign with a bonus point 26-7 win over Sedru Champs Lily White on Saturday 22 February at a packed Oval. The opening round of the competition saw some entertaining rugby on display. Eastern registered a hard-fought 19-15 win over Wanderers, while the visiting Bedford Crusaders proved too good for Swallows in their friendly encounter with a 22-19 win. The main game of the day was without doubt the highlight of a full programme of rugby. After a 7-7 first half score between Brumbies and Lily White, the young Brumbies side pulled off a second-half…

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By CHESLEY DANIELS Mary Waters (Mawas) clinched a dominant 51-5 win over Alexandria High School in the final of last Saturday’s under-19 rugby tournament at the Oval. Nonzamo pulled off a huge surprise when they beat Ukanyo in the 3rd/4th play offs to win the bronze. The inaugural tournament, under the auspices of the South Eastern Districts Rugby Union (Sedru) was hosted by the Department of Sport, Recreation, Arts and Cultur. Its purpose was to provide participation and development opportunities for schools from disadvantaged areas, to promote and accelerate talent development, and to identify talent. Thousands of spectators came out in their numbers…

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Sidbury, the Grahamstown Cricket Board (GCB) first league defending champions, comprehensively defeated Rhodes firsts by eight wickets last weekend, collecting a crucial bonus point in the process. The GCB fixture was played on Sunday at Sidbury. Tension is building in the GCB competitions as the end of the season approaches. Meanwhile, Kenton won the GCB Central Albany second league after rained washed out play last weekend and points were shared. Kenton topped the log with 20 points after five games, followed by Sidbury in second position with 15 (5). Sunday’s game between Sidbury and Rhodes was the only fixture played for the weekend.…

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The young Willows Cricket side pulled off a remarkable win with only nine players against Manley Flats in their Grahamstown Cricket Board (GCB) fixture last weekend. The GCB competitions are still on fire and there was once again some exciting cricket on offer. Willows went down to Manleys and came home with an impressive 5-wicket win. Willows and Cuylerville are still unbeaten in 2020. What makes the win so special for Willows, is the fact that they travelled with only 9 players and managed to beat Manleys. Manleys batted first and some incredible bowling by Willows, saw them reached 205…

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Kingswood First X1 won the toss in their match against Framesby and decided to bowl first in hot and humid conditions on Gane Field. The opening pair of Sbu Zweni (1/25) and Caleb Daniels (1/28) were superb for Kingswood with the new ball. The Framesby innings never really got going thanks to a fantastic all round bowling display by the Kingswood attack. Framesby lost wickets at regular intervals and in the end were dismissed for 99 runs. In reply, Kingswood were clinical in their run chase as they passed the required total of 100 runs with only 1 wicket down.…

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A young Willows cricket side recorded their second win of the year in the follow-up leg of the Grahamstown Cricket Board (GCB) First League competition. They recorded an impressive 7-wicket win over Southwell and are still unbeaten in 2020. The second half of the season is definitely better for Willows. They struggled last year in the first half of the season, and managed only two wins. A reduced 40-over match saw the home side Southwell reach 200/9 in their allotted 40 overs after batting first. Willows bowlers applied pressure after a slow start. Cole Wessels enjoyed a good day at the…

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