Match Report – Sharks v Wests NSW Cup Round 1 2009
The game started well for the Sharks, with strong defence, strong running, and a good kicking game leading to tries for Mitch Brown and Jack Afamasaga.
Mitch Brown’s try was scored in the first few minutes of the match, and resulted from a Wests player fumbling a kick to the in-goal from Scott Porter, when the Sharks were attacking close the Wests line.
Jack Afamasaga’s try came after 15 minutes of play, when he received the ball via an offload from Joe Falemaka, and ran through numerous defenders to score a strong try.
However, a turning point came after 25 minutes.
With the Sharks attacking the Wests line, a great kick into the in-goal by Scott Porter gave the Sharks a repeat set in a good attacking position. Despite strong runs by Mat Cooper and Jack Afamasaga, good organisation from Scott Porter, and a further repeat set resulting from a penalty, the Sharks failed to capitalise.
A few tackles later, a great long kick by Wests, that stopped in the Sharks in-goal area, made it hard work for Sharks fullback Isaac Gordon to get the ball back into the field of play.
And with Wests defending ferociously, the Sharks turned over the ball moments later.
Receiving possession from the mistake, Wests proceeded to attack the Sharks with strong runs, with the Sharks defending strongly, Brad Barrett in particular.
After sustaining the attacking pressure, an effective grubber kick by Wests into the in-goal provided their first try of the match.
A few minutes later Wests had scored again. This time by getting good field position from a penalty.
And this was repeated a few minutes later. Wests had scored 18 points in less than 15 minutes.
The second half started well for the Sharks though. Strong defence by Tony Caine and Jess Caine lead to the Sharks getting possession at the half-way line.
Five tackles later, Afamasaga leapt above the pack to catch a Scott Porter kick on the full, and score an impressive try under the posts.
This levelled the scores at 16-all.
After receiving the ball from the kick off it looked like the Sharks would score again when Isaac Gordon made a great run straight through the Magpies line, and only got stopped inches from the tryline. The Sharks failed to capitalise on the good field position however, and knocked on to force a scrum.
Over the next fifteen to twenty minutes, Wests scored two more converted tries, which wrapped up the game for them.
The first came from a Wests player diving on the ball in the Sharks in-goal, after a handling error by a Sharks player.
The second came from very poor defence by a number of Sharks players, who slipped off tackles, allowing Wests to score their final try of the game.
Four minutes later, the Sharks received a penalty in good attacking position. Good passing by the Sharks lead to Isaac Gordon scoring the Sharks’ last try of the game.
Although there were some highlights for the Sharks during the last ten minutes of the game, including Ryan Verlinden running over the Magpies defence a few times, neither team were to score any more points.
Wests won 28-22.
The man of the match was Jack Afamasaga. He was heavily involved in attack and defence and scored two tries. His second try was possibly reminiscent of his earlier days as a young centre in New Zealand rugby. He showed his class and experience, and it’s not surprising that he has been promoted to first grade this week.
Other notable players were Tony Caine, Scott Porter, Joe Falemaka, Ryan Verlinden, young prop Inoke Tapaatoutai, and the late addition Filinga Filiga looked very dangerous in attack at times.
