Highlanders win on the Highveld

The Cheetahs' woes continued after succumbing to a 28-31 loss to the Highlanders in a tense Super 14 encounter at Vodacom Park in Bloemfontein on Friday.

The Cheetahs' woes continued after succumbing to a 31-28 loss to the Highlanders in a tense Super 14 encounter at Vodacom Park in Bloemfontein on Friday.

The Highlanders came out firing in the second half, scoring two tries after surrendering a three-point deficit thanks to a try apiece by Aaron Bancroft and Adam Thomson.

The New Zealand tourists – at one stage down to just 13 men – were forced to hang on for dear life for their first win on tour and only their second win in the 2008 tournament.

The Round Twelve victory also boosts the Highlanders' chance of avoiding the dreaded wooden spoon, which many predicted at the start of the season.

Heading into this match, both teams were as bad as each other – neither team had won away from home this year, both shared the same number of bonus points (seven), two from scoring four tries in a game and five from close losses.

The Cheetahs could rightly claim to be even more unlucky than the Highlanders this season, losing four of their games by four points or less and the end result in this match on a chilly night in the Free State was no different.

The Cheetahs said during the build-up to the game that last week's thumping to the Hurricanes was as low as they could go, but this result proved that theory wrong.

They were outclassed by an average Highlanders outfit, who were also ravaged by injuries during the match.

The New Zealanders seemed to want the victory more however, and 25 points in as many minutes either side of the break gave them their second victory over South African opposition this season (the hapless Lions being the first).

This match proved why the two teams are languishing at the bottom of the table as both failed to inspire or catch the imagination of the spectators.

It was a high-scoring affair, but this was aided by weak defence from both teams. Elementary mistakes also characterised the entire game, while poor discipline cost the Cheetahs dearly.

Apart from a ten-minute period before the break, it seemed as though the Cheetahs weren't even interested in winning.

When the Cheetahs went 0-6 down, they seemed a more motivated unit and -sparked by inspirational leader Juan Smith – they created a well-worked try through centre JW Jonker who dived over in the corner.

This gave the Cheetahs some much-needed confidence and two minutes before the break, winger Eddie Fredericks countered from his own half and set up a try for in-form number eight Duanne Vermeulen who barged over from close range.

But this only started the scoring spree for the Highanders as they hit straight back with a try to replacement centre Bancroft on the stroke of half-time that sent the players huffing and puffing into the changing rooms with the scores at 14-11 in favour of the home side.

The Cheetahs began to dominate play in the second half, but all their positives were undone by poor 50/50 passes that gave the Highlanders their second try courtesy of a Thomson intercept.

The flanker did tremendously well to snatch up the ball in the first place, but still had plenty of work to do on his race towards the try-line. Supporting full-back Paul Williams took an inside pass before popping back to his flanker to finish off the move he had started from half-way.

The conversion was successfully made by fly-half Mike Delany from far out to give the Highlanders the vital lead once more.

The Cheetahs' indiscipline handed Delany with a number of penalty opportunities and he duly accepted to give his team a ten-point buffer leading into the final quarter.

Bancroft was on hand to pick up a brace of tries for the match thanks to a deft grubber kick ahead by the influential Delany and the game seemed all but over.

But two yellow cards for foul play to lock Tom Donnelly and replacement back Blair Stewart resulted in the South Islanders playing with just 13 men in the final ten minutes.

Two converted tries in quick succession by Hendro Scholtz and Rory Duncan for the home team gave them a sniff as they reduced the deficit to four points.

But the final couple of minutes saw the visitors run down the clock, and the Cheetahs couldn't force a comeback victory.

The Cheetahs got two bonus points, but this will be scant consolation for another self-inflicted defeat and below-par performance.

Man of the match: Take a bow Mike Delany who started the Highlanders' 2008 season as their number three pivot. With a solid performance last week against the Stormers and a match-winning display this time out – Delany can safely call himself number one.

Moment of the match: While Aaron Bancroft and Adam Thompson helped the Highlanders' cause with their two tries in the second half, it was Bancroft's first try on the stroke of half-time that really sent the New Zealanders on their way to a well-earned victory.

Villain of the match: The Highlanders naughty duo of Tom Donnelly and Blair Stewart so nearly cost their team the match with two moments of idiocy.

The scorers:

For Cheetahs:
Tries: Jonker, Vermeulen, Scholtz, Duncan
Cons: Barnard 2, Bosman 2

For Highlanders:
Tries: Aaron Bancroft 2, Thomson
Cons: Delany 2
Pens: Delany 4

Yellow cards: Donnelly (Highlanders) – taking player out of the air, 65; Stewart (Highlanders) – dangerous tackle, 67.

Cheetahs: 15 Hennie Daniller, 14 Eddie Fredericks, 13 JW Jonker, 12 Meyer Bosman, 11 Jongi Nokwe, 10 Conrad Barnard, 9 Falie Oelschig, 8 Duanne Vermeulen, 7 Juan Smith (c), 6 Heinrich Brussow, 5 Barend Pieterse, 4 Rory Duncan, 3 CJ van der Linde, 2 Adriaan Strauss, 1 Wian du Preez.
Replacements: 16 Richardt Strauss, 17 Bees Roux, 18 David de Villiers, 19 Hendro Scholtz, 20 Tewis de Bruyn, 21 Bevin Fortuin, 22 Hendrik Meyer.

Highlanders: 15 Paul Williams, 14 Matt Saunders, 13 Brett Mather, 12 Johnny Leota, 11 Fetu'u Vainikolo, 10 Mike Delany, 9 Toby Morland, 8 Craig Newby (c), 7 Tim Boys, 6 Adam Thomson, 5 Tom Donnelly, 4 Hoani MacDonald, 3 Clint Newland, 2 Jason Macdonald, 1 Jamie Mackintosh.
Replacements: 16 David Hall, 17 Chris King, 18 Hayden Triggs, 19 George Naoupu, 20 Jimmy Cowan, 21 Blair Stewart, 22 Aaron Bancroft.

Referee: Paul Marks (Australia)
Touch judges: Daniel Cheever (Australia), Deon van Blommestein (South Africa)
Television match official: Johann Meuwesen (South Africa)
Assessor: Arrie Schoonwinkel (South Africa)