He will be sorely missed as a player, but his influence on a young Sharks will be immense as he takes up a new position as coach within the junior section.

Veteran front rowers Andy Coles, Andy Peterson and Darren Frost were called up as cover when another captain and loose head prop turned an ankle at training in the week.

The re-shuffled pack made their experience count straight from the whistle. By securing good ball, Gordano were able to show what their youngsters could do with ball and space.

Fly-half, Joe Rowsall took the game to the opposition and was a constant threat throughout. He was ably supported in the midfield by centres Aaron French and Greg Drane on his debut.

Drane, aged 18, gave a dominant and assured performance in both attack and defence. His man of the man performance contributed to Gordano turning around 5-0 in the lead after a good move saw French go over in the corner.

French suffered a dislocated elbow early in the second half in a heavy challenge. His absence caused some disruption, but this was soon addressed and Gordano maintained their strong defence to keep the visitors out.

With 10 minutes to go, nerves were abated when Matt Chadwick picked up a loose ball and made a strong run before releasing Rowsall. The fly-half out-sprinted and out-muscled the visitors defence to score in the corner. He converted his try form the touch line.

The last play of the game went to Old Reds when they managed a try of their own to make the score 12-7 and fine victory for the Sharks.

A special mention should be made for the referee, Adrian Johnstone in his 1,000th game with the whistle. He had a fine game and showed all his 40 years of refereeing in keeping this a clean and entertaining encounter.

Both sets of players broke with tradition by giving Adrian three rousing cheers to congratulate him on his remarkable achievement.