Sharks End the Year in Style

Sharks could muster only 14 players for this away fixture and Painswick generously agreed to field the same number for the opening forty minutes of the game until it became apparent that they were facing a very heavy defeat, and even then they couldn't contain the scoreline.

After 8 minutes of non stop aggressive attacking it was scrumhalf Toby Baxter who drove over from a 10 yard penalty to open the account. This seemed to galvanise the home side who played their best spell and nearly equalised but for some impressive Sharks defending and good work from the Forwards winning turnover ball leading to a promising counterattack but Fly Half Ed Moss was brought down by a high tackle only yards from the line. The penalty led to a second try when no.8 Ben Anstead made an intelligent run to receive the ball from Baxter and go over in the corner. The home team rapidly lost discipline and Gordano racked up 3 more tries before the interval including quality moves across the Backs for winger Ryan Pearch and full back Noah Holmes-Mcadam to score in the corners and a battering ram drive through the middle by flanker Ben Ingle.

Within 5 minutes of the restart the lead was extended by second row James Grindle's 20 yard run under the posts following a brave solo drive from prop Dan Swaby which sucked in most of the defence. From the resulting kickoff Holmes-McAdam received the ball, ran through the home defence to the halfway line and passed out to centre James Copeland who took it to the tryline.

Frustration within the home side ranks was mounting and they fielded a fifteenth player in order to redress the balance but to no avail as Sharks overturned another Wicks lineout and a Baxter / Holmes-Mcadam one-two combination allowed the scrumhalf to claim his second. Minutes later the Forwards regained possession and led a regulation move out to winger Olly Povey who went over in the corner. The final try was another for Holmes-Mcadam from another 10 yard penalty passed out from Pearch.

Although Painswick rarely posed a significant threat, Sharks displayed good quality skills and intelligent tactics. The Forwards controlled all the set play whilst the Backs passing was fast and accurate. Jay Ragoo was outstanding at hooker ably supported by props Dan Swaby and Kierney Day. Will Magramalis was typically fearless in the rucks and always on the lookout for an opportunity to run the ball. Tackling standards were high, particularly Sam felling their giant hooker and Noah's full speed hit which brought the final Painswick attack to a painful end. With significant positional changes necessitated by injury and unavailability, this last match of 2014 shows that the team has surprising strength in depth.

HT 0-29

FT: 5-56

Scorers

Painswick Try: Ewan Halling

Sharks Tries: Toby Baxter (2), Ben Anstead, Ryan Pearch, Ben Ingle, Noah Holmes-Mcadam (2), James Grindle, James Copeland, Olly Povey,

Conv: Ed Moss (3)