The Falcons were pushed all the way by the Mighty Elephants before emerging 35-31 winners in a pulsating Currie Cup first-division semifinal played at the Bosman Stadium in Brakpan on Saturday afternoon.
The Falcons led 20-17 at the break.
Their reward is a final in Brakpan on October 14 where they will meet the Pumas, who overcame the Griffons 40-27 in the first semifinal on Friday night.
The home team dominated the first 40 minutes and deservedly took the lead when flank Piet Krause scored and flyhalf Louis Strydom kicked the conversion. Despite their loose-forward combination dominating, the Falcons were never able to pull away from the visitors.
Indeed, EP managed to stay in the game and drew level when wing Baldwin McBean scampered over for a thrilling try against the run of play and scrumhalf Chris Jonck slotted the conversion.
But that scenario did not last long as the Falcons’ forwards were getting the better of their counterparts and they scored again.
Strydom added the extras before kicking a penalty for a 17-7 lead midway through the half.
To the visitors’ credit, despite being outplayed at the breakdown and in the loose, they fought back and drew level again thanks to a converted try by centre Sam Willard. Jonck kicked a penalty to make it 17-17, but Strydom had the last laugh with a penalty on the stroke of half-time.
The visitors came out firing in the second stanza and scored two tries after the interval to take a 31-20 lead, but the Falcons, spurred on by their home fans, replied with a try of their own to reduce the deficit to 31-27, before another by Louis Strydom gave them a narrow 32-31 advantage.
Strydom then slotted a 50m penalty on 70 minutes to give his team breathing space. The Elephants piled on pressure relentlessly in the closing 10 minutes, but could not break the Falcons’ resolute defence. — Sapa