The Sharks Matthews Cup and SG Ball teams returned to the winner’s circle with impressive round three victories, while the Tarsha Gale girls showed glimpses of their what they are capable of in a loss to the Wests Tigers.
Playing at three different venues against three different opponents, the SG Ball Sharks traveled to Perth where they came away convincing 66-6 winners against the West Coast Pirates, the Matthews Cup boys recorded a strong 18-16 victory over the Parramatta Eels, while the Tarsha Sharks went down fighting in a 30-10 loss to the Tigers.
The two wins came after round one losses and round two byes for the under 16 and under 18 boys, while the Tarsha girls showed signs of improvement but remain winless after three losses to start their season.
In WA the Ball Sharks were up 18-0 with barely 10 minutes of the match gone and had scored seven tries by the half time break as they outclassed their opponents.
While maybe less impressive in the second period, at least on the scoreboard, the Sharks went on with the job to record a win that lifts them to four competition points and also provides a handy boost to their for-and-against.
Winger Sam Stonestreet and fullback Hayden Sutton crossed for three tries each in the win, five eighth Max Devlin touched down twice, with hooker Tom Demeio notching up a personal tally of 20 points after scoring a try and kicking eight goals.
In the Matthews Cup the Sharks were forced to work a little harder than their older counterparts against one of the traditional powerhouses in the under 16’s competition.
The Sharks began strongly, tries to hooker Kobie Wilson and back rower Kynan Hodges opening an 8-0 lead in the first 15 minutes, before Wilson scored his second as the Cronulla side went to the break with a 14-0 advantage.
The Parramatta boys narrowed the margin with a converted try early in the second half but the Sharks were undaunted, pushing the lead out again to 18-6 when fullback Kristian Dixon crossed.
The Eels then scored back-to-back tries, missing the second conversion in leaving them two points behind, but in displaying good composure the Sharks would tough out the final 10 minutes in scoring an impressive win against a quality opponent.
The story wasn’t quite as positive for the Tarsha Gale Sharks who suffered their third consecutive defeat in going down to the Wests Tigers.
The teams went blow for blow early, the Tigers scoring first, then the Sharks responding in the eighth minute with a Jaida White four-pointer.
Two more tries to their opponents made it 14-4, but the Tarsha Sharks gave themselves a chance at 14-10 when Jamie Chapman scored and Kyla Johnston converted, but that would be as close as they would get, the Tigers flexing their muscle and running away with the game in the final period of the match.
The Sharks Junior rep teams will be in action again this weekend when all three play host to the Penrith Panthers in matches to be played at Shark Park. The Tarsha Gale kicks off at 10am, the Matthews Cup at 12noon and the SG Ball at 1.45pm.
MATTHEWS CUP
SHARKS 18
Kobie Wilson 2, Kynan Hodges, Kristian Dixon tries, Dixon goal
beat
EELS 16
SG BALL
SHARKS 66
Samuel Stonestreet 3, Hayden Sutton 3, Max Devlin 2, Thomas Demeio, Sidney Noppen, , Marco Talagi, , Kade Dykes, Damon Smith tries Demeio 8, Billy Burke goals
Beat
PIRATES 6
TARSHA GALE
SHARKS 10
Jaida White, Jamie Chapman tries, Kyla Johnston goal
Lost to
WESTS TIGERS 30
