Windhoek Fourths.com vs. Shebeen SSC (Shebeen Boys)
18 June 2011

This past weekend saw an extremely rejuvenated as well as inspired Windhoek Fourths.com team grace the aptly named “field of dreams” (that’s Villager’s C field for anyone who’s been living in a shoebox.) as they took on the boys from Shebeen SSC. The weather for the encounter was amazing with temperatures soaring in the 20s (seeing as it had been raining throughout the build up to this encounter), however the almighty winds blowing across the field was the only issue that deemed the conditions just short of perfect. With that being the case, the game was sure to include some serious running rugby.

After both teams had provided the necessary BBM, Interweb, Twitter and Facebook banter ahead of the encounter, 2pm on Saturday the kick-off whistle was the moment when the talking stopped and the proverbial “shit” got real.

The game started off Shebeen kicking to the TheFourths.com. The first 8minutes saw a tremendous amount of seesawing in possession as a result of the wind affecting both the accuracy in lineouts as well as tactical kicking. The deadlock was however broken after “Costus” Marsh pinged over a penalty kick for an offside call to grab the lead. The score then became 3-0.

The strength of TheFourths.com forward pack was sensational as they boasted dominating the Shebeen Boys in both the scrums as well as in ruck time in the early stages of the game. They were vital in the construction of TheFourths.com’s first try of the match. A turnover was initiated by Prop-turned-Lock-turned-Flanker Graham “Milf” Lindemann who, like a thief in the night (one that weighed 100+kg) regained possession of the ball from a ruck and with the help of Terry Twakkie/LeBron James Ncube they manage to get the ball to Ganoosh Briscoe and then to “Yus3” Williams on the wing. The youngster made quick work of his opposing number by applying just the right amount of speed and then dotted down in the corner. The conversion by Costus was no good so the lead went to 8-0 in favour of the boys in the “dirty white”.

The 8 point lead proved to be too hectic for the Shebeen Boys as they pushed and shoved as hard as they could to at least decrease their deficit. The last few moments of the first half, which seemed to go on forever, saw the Shebeen Boys capitalize on a lack luster clearance kick that gave them a lineout within TheFourths.com 22m area. The away side claimed the lineout ball and drove forward toward the line, and after a few attempts, Shebeen carried the ball across the goal line to make the score 8-5. Their flyhalf made quick work of the conversion which then made the score 8-7.

The score sheet remained unscathed as the game reached the halfway mark. However it must’ve been the inspirational talks during the halftime interval or something in the water that opened the game up in a big way which resulted in tries coming in from all directions.

TheFourths.com boys increased the lead shortly after the break through Johann “freee-times” Strauss bundled over the line after carrying the ball with serious intent, as only he could. The conversion was mandatory this time for Costus as he extended the lead then to 8 points with the score then at 15-7.

Shebeen boys fought back hard to close in on TheFourths.com lead after catching TheFourths.com boys napping after a large string of phase play with further seesawing in possession. The game then took a slightly intense turn as Shebeen boys then came charging on the counter attack to catch TheFourths.com by surprise again to score their second try of the arvo as they utilized good handling skills to catch Yus3 with his pants down (figuratively) with their overlap and their winger scored in the corner. The angle on for the conversion was too much for Shebeen’s flyhalf as his kick drifted slightly to the right and the score was then 15-12.

With Adam “Chairman/Tea-bag” van Niekerk off the field and Lofty on as his replacement as hooker and JJ Smale on for Ferdi as scrumhalf, TheFourths.com still dominated in the scrums. This was therefore overshadowed by the wind still creating issues for the home side in the lineouts. It was however a scrum that led to TheFourths.com scoring their third try of the game. The try was a result of a simple hands option from the scrum that saw one of TheFourths.com’s latest recruits Corne Nortier dot down in the far right corner with literally his first touch of the ball this season!!! Amazing effort! The kick from the corner was equivalent to pissing against the wind as Costus was unfortunate their. The score was then 20-12.

Strangely enough it was at that point, and only that point, when TheFourths.com realized that the game was being played with a rolling subs format. This resulted in a few changes being made for the home side in their efforts to keep the legs fresh on the paddy. However, another comeback try was on the cards for the boys in Green and Black as they barged forward and dotted down their third try just to the side of the woodwork and the simple conversion brought the deficit back to just one point. The score was then 20-19 in favour of TheFourths.com.

The score line remained unchanged for a further 15minutes as both sides threw everything (a few handbags too), just short of the kitchen sink in their efforts to put the game at rest. Tim Costus Marsh decided to take matters into his own hands and go for two drop goals in this time, this was an infamous award wining idea as he was unsuccessful on both occasions and the score remained unchanged.

It was a majestic moment of glory when TheFourths.com eventually ended the point scoring drought through a systematic structured attack which started with phase after phase by the forwards, and then a move out wide, which found Rikki “Flair” Lotter scoring his first try in 7 years of him playing Villager rugby. The super sub placed the pill right in the corner with a few Shebeen boys on either shoulder. Not a big deal right. Warren “Shake ’n Bake/Sarge’ Sargeant grabbed hold of the kicking tee on this occasion as Costus was now on the bench and he put in a good hoof to add the extra two conversion points. The kick was just slightly wayward to the left and the game ended at 25-19.

The result was awesome as it saw TheFourths.com boys get back to winning ways a week before the league gets back under way. Immediately after the game, both side rejoined to have a brief combined awards ceremony to present a couple of fines with the assistance of Windhoek draught and lager.

The Awards for TheFourths.com team went as follows:

Man of the Match (Coaches choice): this award was given to Johann “Freee-times” Strauss for his great hits, great ball carrying on attack as well as a try.

Captains Choice (Player of the Day): Costus Marsh felt that it was Ganoosh who had such a great game as he literally was everywhere on the field when playing his position in the loose forwards.

Females Choice (Player of the Day): The man who parties like it’s his birthday every weekend won this award. That man was Sarge. With his first bit of game time for the season, Sarge displayed some glorious juggling skills while looking uncomfortable with the ball in hand. The glorious juggling skills were enough to win the WAGs over though. Well done ma-boy!

The Tits McGee Award: The award for the most graceful (by that I mean, most embarrassing and awkward) knock-on of the day was shared by Johann “Freee-times” Strauss and Sarge. Johann got the award for running an awesome line and got the ball from Tim Marsh with a huge gap in his wake, but he forgot to hold onto the ball. Sarge was a co-recipient of the award for simply looking uncomfortable when attempting to field the ball. Well done guys

¬Dick of the Day: The illustrious award of infamy was won by captain fantastic, Tim Marsh. He obtained this award for playing the “What was I thinking?!?” role and going for two drop goals during the game, and they were both unsuccessful.

In closing I’d just like to thank all of the supporters that were present for this game as well as Shebeen SSC for joining TheFourths.com in the great encounter. Also, we cannot forget to thank our main sponsor Windhoek for yet again providing TheFourths.com with the perfect celebratory beverage. After all, they did taste that much sweeter after having been earned.

This coming weekend we see TheFourths.com take on False Bay 4ths for the first match of the second half of the season. Be sure to not miss this encounter at the Brookside. Other than that, may you enjoy this week ahead.

Keep well and keep it real.

Yus3