Students claim scrappy win

THE students managed to give Empangeni 1 an 80-minute lesson on how to play rugby in slippery and muddy conditions on a wet and cold Friday evening at Mick Kelly Park in Empangeni.

Unizul claimed full points after beating the home side 17-10 in a Weber Cup encounter.

Play was not pretty and spectators were frustrated by the amount of mistakes, handling errors and level of rugby played on the night.

Unizul opened up the scoring with a try from Wandile Vezi, which gave the visitors an early 5-0 lead.

But by the middle of the first half, Pelican Mabhana used his big frame to crash over the whitewash for the home side and level the game at five all.

As the rain continued to fall, players racked up the mistakes and as a result, the game was played in the middle of the field.

But just before half-time, the students scored two tries through Teboho Kilani, with Tumi Makhatha converting only one try to take Unizul into the break 17-5 up.

The second half though proved to be quite a boring affair.

But man of the match Martin Coetzee dotted down in the corner for Empangeni, with Piet Pieterse failing to convert, ending the game at 17-10.

Captain Piet Pieterse was awarded man of the match in the backline, with Martin Coetzee taking the accolade in the forwards.