The home side started strongly, limiting Tuffley to two shots on target. One shot was acrobatically diverted over the bar, the other resulted in the game’s opening goal on twenty minutes against the run of play. Dougie Foxwell’s side then continued to have the better of possession up until the half-time whistle but were troubled on the counter-attack by the pace of Hawes and Ponting on the Sharpness wings. With Brain and Paterson working to hold up attacks through the middle, target man Frankham was left a little isolated at times.

The second half belonged to Sharpness. Man of the match Higgs and Webber gave little away across the back line and intelligent wing play sent Sharpness strikers clean through on several occasions behind a high Tuffley back four. Incisiveness in playing through-balls to feet and diagonal running from the attacking front four saw Hawes and substitute Ben John equalise and then gain the lead.

Tuffley’s patience in the build-up and the willingness of the front pair to chase lost causes caused considerable trouble for the Sharks in the final fifteen minutes. As both teams tired there looked to be more goals coming for Sharpness, although finishing was a little wasteful. The equaliser came five minutes from time when a cut back ball was cleared against a Tuffley striker by Webber; the ball rebounding over the line.

Despite drizzle and fading light a good crowd turned out to see the first home game at Berkeley power station. They were rewarded with an open game that, on reflection, probably ended in a fair result. From a Sharpness viewpoint, the performance was a step on from the slender victory over Cam Bulldogs in the previous week. In terms of fitness and performance, it’s fair to say the Sharks are on track to beready for the league champions on August 27th.

Man of the match – James Higgs, positioning and decision making were perfect

Donkey of the match – Sam Ponting, pink Playboy pants, totally inappropriate

Squad; Marklove, J Priday, Webber, James Higgs, Stutter, Ponting, Hawes, Brain, Paterson, M Smith, Frankham, John, Collard