Bancroft brace stuns Cheetahs
Two tries from centre Aaron Bancroft helped the Highlanders overcome the Cheetahs 31-28 in the bottom-of-the-table clash.
Last Updated: 02/05/08 9:13pm
Two tries from centre Aaron Bancroft helped the Highlanders overcome the Cheetahs 31-28 in the bottom-of-the-table clash at Vodacom Park on Friday night.
The victory was only the Highlanders second of the season, but the Cheetahs claimed two bonus points to remain in touch with their New Zealand counterparts after outscoring their opponents by four tries to three.
The Highlanders dominated possession in the early stages of the Bloemfontein clash, and they marched into a 6-0 lead courtesy of two penalties from the boot of fly-half Mike Delany.
The Cheetahs finally came to life after 28 minutes when centre JW Jonker dived over in the right corner after a period of sustained pressure. The conversion by Conrad Barnard gave the hosts a one-point advantage.
Cheetahs rocked
Things got even better for the Cheetahs 10 minutes later when big No.8 Duane Vermeulen was sent crashing over the line after neat work from scrum-half Noel Oelschig.
Another conversion from Barnard sent the Cheetahs soaring into a 14-6 lead, however the hosts were rocked just before the interval when Bancroft went over in the left corner for his first try of the evening.
The missed conversion ensured the Cheetahs still held a slender 14-11 advantage, but just minutes after the restart the New Zealand outfit were back in front.
Highlanders flanker Adam Thompson started and finished a flowing move which began deep inside Cheetahs territory, and all of a sudden the home fans were staring at the scoreboard in disbelief as they trailed 18-14.
Decisive score
Two further penalties from the impressive Delany increased the Highlanders advantage, and the Kiwi kicker then turned provider as he set up what turned out to be the decisive score when Bancroft crashed over for his second of the evening.
Delany's conversion took the score to 31-14 but any thoughts the away side may have had of the Cheetahs giving up were quickly quashed as the hosts rallied in the final 15 minutes.
Replacement Hendro Scholzt reduced the deficit and with the Highlanders down to 13 men after Tom Donnelly and Blair Stewart were sent to the sin-bin, the Cheetahs scored their fourth try through lock Rory Duncan.
The successful conversion made it a three-point game, but the men from Otago hung on and the Cheetahs were condemned to their 10th defeat of the season.
