Kicking back: Matthew Rosslee has earned two Man of the Match nods in two successive Varsity Cup matches.

Flyhalf Matthew Rosslee vindicated his coach's faith in him by booting over a late penalty to see UCT Tigers to a 24-22 win over Tukkies in a dramatic top-of-the-table FNB Varsity Cup clash in Pretoria on Monday, 23 February.

Rosslee contributed 14 points to the UCT score with four penalties and one conversion, earning the Man of the Match award - his second in successive matches.

Ikeys and Tukkies are now level on 15 points apiece - two behind log leaders Maties, from Stellenbosch University - but the University of Pretoria team hold on to second spot thanks to a better point difference.

Ikeys started the match slowly, trailing 0-13 at one point, before coming back with tries from Therlow Pietersen and Marcello Sampson.

"My nerves were certainly frayed," coach John Dobson told fnbvarsitycup.co.za.

"It was a tense match and the guys did well to recover from the slow start.

"Overall, I was a bit disappointed in our performance, but I guess there's a lot to be said about the team for pulling through in the end, despite not playing well."

UCT now has three wins out of four matches. Next up is an away match on 2 March against FNB Nelson Mandela Municipality University from Port Elizabeth, who won their first-ever Varsity Cup match when they beat FNB Tshwane University of Technology 28-18 on 23 February.