Emirates Western Force

Cats (SA)

The Emirates Western Force squandered a big lead to record its second draw in two weeks when scoring 34-all with the Cats in their Tooheys New Super 14 clash at Ellis Park.

Leading 21-3 at half-time, John Mitchell's troops looked set to register their first win of the season but a forgettable second half performance and a late try to wing Wylie Human saw the Cats let well and truly off the hook.

The draw is the Force's second in as many games after the struggling Western Australian franchise drew 23-23 with the top-of-the-table Crusaders at Subiaco Oval last week.

In the fateful draw against the Crusaders, the Force had a 20-8 lead at half-time but squandered that lead in much the same way as they did against the Cats.

Despite the Force's poor record in the second half, the travelling franchise appeared to have the match in the bag with a 34-22 lead and less than ten minutes left on the clock.

Fullback Cameron Shepherd had a chance to seal the result with a penalty goal in the 78th minute but his miss proved costly and minutes later Human edged over the line in injury-time to brutally deny the Force.

The Force got off to a better start in the opening half and managed to plough through a porous Cats defence three times before the break.

Centre Scott Staniforth was the first over the chalk and he did so in the 31st minute with a classy piece of evasive running.

Shortly after, winger Digby Ioane gave the Force further ascendancy when he crashed over for another five-pointer just before half-time.

However, it was Staniforth who was the star of the show for the visitors and the try-scoring whiz soon proved to be more than a handful for the struggling Cats defence.

In the 44th minute the speedster crossed over for his second try of the match.

This caused the Cats to finally spark into life and KleinJan Tromp got the ball rolling in the 51st minute with a try.

However, the Force was not to be dispatched so easily and it was again Staniforth who continued his try-scoring form with another to register his hat-trick minutes later.

This try, however, seemed to trigger a sense of complacency in the Force and tries to Delarey du Preez, Jaque Fourie and Willem Stoltz in the latter stages of the match signalled a familiar trend for the competition wooden-spooners.

Cats 34

Tries: Tromp, du Preez, Fourie, Stoltz, Human

Conversions: Pretorius 3

Penalty: Pretorious

Western Force 34

Tries: Staniforth 3, Ioane

Conversions: Shepherd 4

Penalties: Shepherd 2