The Blue Bulls showed great fighting spirit to salvage a 22-22 draw with the last kick of the game against a Cheetahs team that had seemed firmly in control in Bloemfontein on Saturday.

The first half was a tense affair with neaither team managing to cross the whitewash and became more of a kicking duel between the two young flyhalves - Johan Goosen and Louis Fouché.

Goosen was particularly impressive and showed that he is a major prospect for the future by turning in a polished all-round performance. His steady boot ensured that his team took a slender three point lead into the half-time break.

The SA Under-20 playmaker was pivotal to the Cheetahs' only try when he put replacement lock Wilhelm Steenkamp over after 47 minutes and when he slotted a fifth penalty with less than 20 minutes left it looked as if the Blue Bulls were headed for another demoralising defeat.

However, the Men from Pretoria fought back as if their lives depended on it and they were rewarded for their efforts when Goosen's Baby Bok teammate Francois Venter thundered over for a try after breaking clean through the home side's defensive line.

That made the score 22-19 to the Cheetahs with minutes left to play and the home supporters were left stunned when Fouché slotted a long range penalty after the full-time siren had gone to salvage two log points for the embattled Blue Bulls outfit.

The scorers:

For the Cheetahs:
Tries: Steenkamp
Cons: Goosen
Pens: Goosen 5

For the Blue Bulls:
Tries: Venter
Cons: Fouché
Pens: Fouché 5

The teams:

Cheetahs: 15 Hennie Daniller, 14 Riaan Smit, 13 Robert Ebersohn, 12 Philip Snyman, 11 Cameron Jacobs, 10 Johan Goosen, 9 Piet van Zyl, 8 Ashley Johnson, 7 Philip van der Walt, 6 Pieter Labuschagne, 5 Izak van der Westhuizen, 4 Francois Uys, 3 Coenie Oosthuizen, 2 Adriaan Strauss (captain), 1 Marcel van der Merwe.
Replacements: 16 Hercu Liebenberg, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Wilhelm Steenkamp, 19 Boom Prinsloo, 20 Tewis de Bruyn, 21 Sias Ebersohn, 22 Philip Burger.

Blue Bulls: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Akona Ndungane, 13 Wynand Olivier, 12 Francois Venter, 11 Bjorn Basson, 10 Louis Fouché, 9 Jano Vermaak, 8 CJ Stander, 7 Dewald Potgieter, 6 Warwick Tecklenburg, 5 Juandré Kruger, 4 Flip van der Merwe, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 Gary Botha (captain), 1 Dean Greyling.
Replacements: 16 Willie Wepener, 17 Rossouw de Klerk, 18 Gerrit-Jan van Velze, 19 Arno Botha, 20 Dustin Jinka, 21 Francois Brummer, 22 Jurgen Visser.

Referee: Marius Jonker