Fear made the 5 hour trip to Greenville, SC to what was no doubt one of the toughest, hard fought matches of the season so far. Fear went in to the match missing several key players through injury and prior commitments, but the starting team showed that the squad has strength in depth to give a performance that mirrored that of the week before against Columbia.

     Fear came out firing on all cylinders, straight from the kick off the tempo was blistering, and the Fear defense was up quick to pressure the Griffins not giving them an inch to move all day long. Fear soon took command of the game showing good dynamism and continuity across all areas of the pitch, when 20 minutes in a well worked back’s move sent full back Keith Markfield through a gap in the Griffins defense to score the opening try of the game, Matt Williams secured the 2 extras. Greenville came straight back at Fear and were awarded a penalty for hands in the ruck, the Greenville fly half stepped up and slotted the penalty. Fear were quick to react with the forwards securing more clean ball for the backs to run with, when  Ryan ‘Simba’ Glass secured his second try of the season. Poor discipline then let the Fear side down when within the space of 4 minutes loose-head prop Big Benjamin walker and inside centre Jason Gillespie were both sin binned for hands in the ruck, this put Fear down to 13 men when Drew Gonzalez hit a running line with blistering pace to go crashing over for Fear’s 3^rd try 1 minute before the break. Half time score Cape Fear 21 Greenville Griffins 3.

     The second half was a completely different game, the Greenville side came back on to the field revitalized with their big physical pack, they attacked the narrow channels with wave after wave of pick and go’s. The Fear side held strong for the most part, giving a defensive performance that the All Black’s would have been impressed with. Eventually the Griffins broke through the Fear defense not once but twice to score two unanswered tries. Fear held their composure and pushed the Greenville side back in to their own half, when Matt Williams was given an opportunity to secure the win with a penalty kick with 8 minutes to go. Fear then fought out the remaining minutes on their try line but the defense held strong to give Fear a well deserved victory.

     Fear now with 2 wins out of three go top of the table ahead of Columbia who have a game in hand. Fear travel to Charlotte next week which will no doubt be another tough contest.