Berge were edged out of a victory at the Danie Craven Stadium on Wednesday evening (23 August) in their Super League A encounter against a Maties team by 13-11 in the final seconds of the classic encounter.
It took a full 20 minutes for the opening score – a penalty goal by the Matie full-back Jacques Rousseau.
However, in the 25th minute the Berge scrum-half Michael Visser levelled the scoreline also with a penalty (3-3). In the 36th minute he extended the lead and halftime score to 3-6.
In the 54th minute Berge left-wing Luke Hertz made a run before linking with flyhalf JJ Stover, who handed to flanker Naym Jansen who scored out wide after bumping off an attempted tackle (3-11).
Michael Visser put in a long threatening run which was halted just short of the Maties line.
Then the Maties finally broke through the Helderberg defence to score near the corner flag. Rousseau succeeded with the conversion (10-11). Immediately afterwards Visser missed a very goalable penalty attempt.
In the 80th minute Maties got a last second reprieval from a penalty by Rosseau from the touchline and about 45 metres from the posts (13-11).
The close result was a great disappointment to all the Helderberg supporters who were far in the majority according to the Matie executive.
The only Super League A outstanding fixture for Berge is on Saturday (2 September) away to UWC, afterwards follow the top 6 play-offs which apply to all three Super Leagues.
Teams placed three, four, five and six play in the first round, after which the winners face the two teams placed first and second on the semi-finals, before the two winners play the league cup final.
