The Moruya Sharks were at home against third-placed Tathra Sea Eagles on Saturday, in what was a must-win game for the Sharks. Coming off a draw and three straight losses in their last four starts, the Sharks were in danger of losing touch with the top sides, and missing the finals.
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Wearing their Indigenous jerseys the Sharks took the field determined to prove their semi-final credentials. The Sharks took just two minutes to post a try, to winger Jordan Terare, off a blind side raid. A second try to Terare in the 8th minute had the Sharks leading 10-0 and their belief growing.
The balance of the first half was an arm-wrestle, as both teams tried to gain ascendancy. It took until the 35th minute for the scorer to be bothered again, when a grubber kick close to the Tathra line was swooped on by their explosive fullback Kyle Shepherdson, who raced 95 metres to post Tathra's first points.
Tathra with the momentum were able to post a second try via their big centre Declan Bower-Scott in the shadows of half-time, having the teams heading to the sheds with the Sharks holding a slender 10-8 lead.
Everything was set for a tense second stanza, however the Sharks were starting to gel as a unit and it only took two minutes before Pat McMahon crossed over wide out to extend the lead to 14-8. Tathra responded with a try to their winger Ken Mitchell, before Sean Deaves playing at lock for the Sharks, showed his class to step through the Tathra forwards to score adjacent to the posts. Koorin Campbell's second conversion had the Sharks skipping to a 20-12 lead.
The Sharks were starting to control the ruck and with the forwards pushing up in numbers, they were finding good yards up the field. When Pat McMahon crossed for his second try the Sharks had a little breathing space.
The Sharks defence was resolute and it was going to take something special from the Sea Eagles to overcome the deficit. That something special came in the way of a kick from a scrum win, from halfway, with Shepherdson outpacing the Moruya cover to dive on the ball centimetres from the dead ball line. The conversion getting Tathra to within a converted try, at 24-18.
The Sharks were able to hit back when 17-year-old prop forward, Jack Grant, refused to go to ground and carried three defenders over the stripe for the match sealing try. The Sharks finished off the game strongly with Terare scoring his hatrick after another good backline raid, running out winners 34-18 and climbing back into the top five.
In what was a solid team performance, the Sharks know that they need to keep winning in order to cement a place in the top three come semi-finals time.
It does not get any easier for the Sharks as they travel to Pambula Beach next Sunday to face off against the second placed Merimbula-Pambula Bulldogs.
The Reserve grade sides played for the "Robbie Stewart Memorial Shield" in honour of Robbie who died of a brain tumour in 2012.
This match was the major focus of the Moruya Sharks Indigenous round, which was kicked off by a "Welcome to Country" by local elder Aunty Dorrie Moore. This was followed by a traditional dance by Aboriginal dance troupe the "Gunyahs" led by one of Robbie's good friends Jordan Nye.
The game itself saw both teams proudly wear Indigenous jerseys to honour past and present Indigenous players. The match was a hotly contested game with Moruya leading 6-4 at the half-time break, before going to a 12-4 lead early in the second half.
Poor ball control and ill discipline cost the Sharks in the end, giving Tathra the ascendancy and allowing them to cross for three late tries to win 18-12.
Tathra was presented with the "Robbie Stewart Shield" by Robbie's partner Carley Remm and his daughter Melody, before both teams joined together for a joint photograph to mark the occasion.
League-Tag: The Moruya Sharkettes proved too strong for a depleted Tathra She Eagles outfit, with a convincing 30-4 victory.
The girls proved too experienced for the Tathra side, scoring 7 tries to 1 in the emphatic victory. In what was a solid team performance, Ellie Doherty scored 3 tries, while Karen Scott, Rosie Scott, Megan Weyman and Nicole Cowdroy all crossed for 4 pointers.