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Sharks singing in the rain!

Sharks singing in the rain!

Stephen Ibbetson28 Jul 2019 - 09:31
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Shaw Cross Sharks 32-16 East Leeds

Shaw Cross Sharks boosted their survival hopes with a deserved victory over relegation rivals East Leeds.

Captain Dec Naughton got the man of the match award after scoring two tries and leading his side to the win, while Sam Ottewell also scored a double on his impressive return to the team.

Brad Baines got the first try and added six goals to continue his fine form and edge the Sharks to victory.

It was a much stronger Sharks line-up with Nathan Wright coming back on the wing while Mark Smith and Dickie Piper bolstered the pack. Under-16s forward Paul Chitakunye also kept his place after impressing in the defeat at Hull Dockers.

The Sharks started strongly and had the best of the territory, but errors twice saw them lose the ball in good position before the first try came when Andrew Tillotson’s pass sent Baines over on the back of a penalty.

They were put under pressure from the restart though and East Leeds hit back on the first play from a penalty as Nathan Conroy skipped round the defence to score before adding the conversion to put his side in front.

That would last only four minutes though, thanks to a delicious piece of skill from Tillotson. First he collected his own perfectly-weighted kick in behind, before flicking a wonder pass out the back for Ottewell to score.

Shaw Cross had to do some defending before getting the next try. An 80-metre display of footballing skills saw the ball travel from one end to the other before Harrison Sutcliffe landed on the ball to put the home side in attack, from which Naughton charged over to extend the lead.

They were dealt a blow when Ryan Ospital, playing his final game for the club before heading back to France, was harshly sent to the bin for an alleged flop.

However, it was Shaw Cross that got the next try nevertheless as, following a great Sutcliffe tackle to prevent a try moments earlier, Ottewell spun out of one tackle and then stepped round another to score his second try.

They couldn’t quite hold on until half-time though as Dom Hardisty scored on the right after an error from Baines at the back, narrowing their lead to 22-10.

The rain that had been hammering down for hours before the game returned with a vengeance in the second half, making expansive play more difficult, but the Sharks dug deep to grind out the result.

They had started the half positively, forcing a drop out from the restart and going very close to a try as Ben Ripley touched down Ottewell’s kick to the left corner only to see the effort ruled out.

East Leeds made things nervier when they pulled the difference back to one score in the 55th minute, with Tom Bull going into the corner and Conway adding a brilliant touchline conversion despite the best efforts of the baying supporters pitchside.

The Sharks were having the better of the territory and, after turning down two points on one occasion already in pursuit of another try, they chose to kick a penalty with 14 minutes left and Baines made it a two-score lead again.

The result was finally put to bed with six minutes to go and it was fittingly the skipper who did it. Piper did brilliantly to win the ball back to put his side on the attack, and it was his offload which then allowed Naughton to go over and secure the win.

Baines added a final penalty from distance on the hooter to round off a fantastic win for the resurgent Sharks.

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