{"id":40507,"date":"2024-04-07T13:08:28","date_gmt":"2024-04-07T11:08:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=40507"},"modified":"2024-04-07T13:08:28","modified_gmt":"2024-04-07T11:08:28","slug":"lightning-doesnt-strike-twice-as-fichies-turn-the-tables-on-jf","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=40507","title":{"rendered":"Lightning doesn’t strike twice as Fichies turn the tables on JF"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Photo: Kulu Ferreira<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Fichardtpark<\/strong> came out on top after a dramatic battle against their Bloemfontein rivals, Jim Fouch\u00e9<\/strong>, on Saturday.<\/p>\n

The match had all the elements to be a classic, but in an added twist, the weather in the Free State had the last say as the game was cut short because of lightning.<\/p>\n

Catch all the action again on SuperSport Schools – Register now<\/a><\/strong> – Link to the series<\/a><\/p>\n

Last year, Fichardtpark beat JF 39-33, when the sides met for the first time, but the Green Machine got one back over the Fichie Lions in the Free State League final, ending their southern Bloemfontein rival’s unbeaten season by a 31-25 margin.<\/p>\n

On Saturday, Marno Smith<\/strong> scored the opening try for Fichies after a great charge forward by his loosehead prop, Zaine van Zyl<\/strong>. Van Zyl looks like a much-improved player since he began playing for the first team in 2023, and he will have a big role to play throughout the rest of the season as one of the seniors in this year’s squad.<\/p>\n

Big outside centre, Duan Viviers<\/strong>, then turned on the afterburners to chase down an intelligent kick forward by Fichardtpark’s captain, Devant\u00e9 Claasen<\/strong>, to give his side a commanding 12-3 lead after the first quarter of an hour.<\/p>\n

Despite the scoreline, JF enjoyed plenty of possession and their backline kept the hosts busy throughout the first half.<\/p>\n

Flyhalf Alldrick Johnson<\/strong> opened their account with a penalty goal and his side kept asking questions of the home team until Ian Nel<\/strong>\u00a0was the beneficiary when the Green Machine mauled their way over the try line for their first five-pointer.<\/p>\n

The neighbours kept exchanging blows until, just before the half-time whistle, MJ Hattingh<\/strong> barrelled over to give Fichardtpark a seven-point lead at the break.<\/p>\n

Van Zyl was rewarded for his hard work when he scored the first try after the restart to put his side 14 points clear of the visitors.<\/p>\n

With only 14 minutes left to play, Breyten de Wee<\/strong> clawed one back for JF against his old school. Before they could attempt the conversion, however, the players were asked to leave the field because of an approaching lightning storm and the game was brought to a premature close with Fichardtpark leading 24-15.<\/p>\n

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Cecil Parsons in action for Voortrekker against Fichardtpark | Photo: Willie Kruger<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After going into half-time 19-15 ahead in Kroonstad, Voortrekker,<\/strong> from Bethlehem, doubled their score in the second 35 minutes while keeping the hosts, Ho\u00ebrskool Trio<\/strong>, scoreless.<\/p>\n

Trio had some success through their forwards in the early going, with both props, Dandr\u00e9 Bloem<\/strong> and Juandr\u00e9 Vorster<\/strong> crossing the line and their flyhalf Byron Biennas<\/strong> making further inroads on the scoreboard from the tee.<\/p>\n

The Trekkers, however, upped the ante in the second period of play and outmuscled Trio.<\/p>\n

Their big Craven Week tighthead, Cecil Parsons<\/strong>, scored a brace as they asserted their dominance over the Kroonstad outfit.<\/p>\n

Despite unexpectedly slipping up against a fired-up Diamantveld in their opening match of the series, the team from Bethlehem is definitely one of the sides to watch out for this season.<\/p>\n

Last year, they were crowned the overall champions of the Wesgrow Series, but they’ll have their sights set on the u19 A division this year, which Fichardtpark claimed in 2023 with their unbeaten run.<\/p>\n

The Trekkers made a statement at the NMI Toyota North-South Tournament<\/strong> this year when they beat Helpmekaar 20-19.<\/p>\n

With exciting talents like hooker Arnold Ras<\/strong>, no. 8 Dawie Fourie,<\/strong> and their flying fullback Kaneng Komane<\/strong> among the many players in their lineup capable of punishing the opposition, the Bethlehem boys are sure to deliver excitement on the park.<\/p>\n

Scorers<\/strong><\/p>\n

Fichardtpark 24 (17) – <\/strong>Tries: MJ Hattingh, Zaine van Zyl, Marno Smith, Duan Viviers. Conversions: Devant\u00e9 Claasen (2). Jim Fouch\u00e9 15 (10) – <\/strong>Tries: Ian Nel, Breyten de Wee. Conversion: Alldrick Johnson. Penalty: Johnson.<\/p>\n

Voortrekker 38 (19) – <\/strong>Tries: Cecil Parsons (2), Tristan Meyer, Karabelo Chaka, Frederik Fourie, Dawie Fourie. Conversions: Christiaan van der Sandt (4).\u00a0Ho\u00ebrskool Trio 15 (15) –<\/strong> Tries: Dandr\u00e9 Bloem, Juandr\u00e9 Vorster. Conversion: Byron Biennas. Penalty: Biennas<\/p>\n

Other results<\/strong><\/p>\n

u19 –\u00a0<\/strong>Fichardtpark II 32, Jim Fouch\u00e9 II 26; Jim Fouch\u00e9 III 33, Fichardtpark III 13; Voortrekker II 28, Trio II 19; Voortrekker III 24, Trio 3.<\/p>\n

u16 –\u00a0<\/strong>Fichardtpark 17, Jim Fouch\u00e9 10; Voortrekker 43, Trio 7; Voortrekker B 29, Trio B 7.<\/p>\n

u15 –\u00a0<\/strong>Jim Fouch\u00e9 15, Fichardtpark 10; Jim Fouch\u00e9 B 31, Fichardtpark B 0; Trio 45, Voortrekker 0; Trio 24, Voortrekker 7.<\/p>\n

u14 –\u00a0<\/strong>Fichardtpark 24, Jim Fouch\u00e9 14; Fichardtpark B 43, Jim Fouch\u00e9 B 0; Voortrekker 48, Trio 7; Voortrekker B 29, Trio 0.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fichardtpark came out on top after a dramatic battle against their Bloemfontein rivals, Jim Fouch\u00e9, on Saturday. The match had all the elements to be a classic, but in an added twist, the weather in the Free State had the last say as the game was cut short because of lightning. Catch all the action […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":40651,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40507","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40507","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=40507"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40507\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=40507"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=40507"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=40507"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}