St Brendans U16 v Gordano U16

The 3G at Coombe Dingle hosted the last clash of January for the Sharks. Leon Paul captained the side against a home side short of numbers due to a virus, Gordano offered players to the hosts to balance the numbers in a 14 v 14 game. Sharks welcomed back Finn Rowland from a long term injury. The initial impetus was with St Brendan’s but a scrum against the head changed the balance of play. Macie King broke through the line from his own half and distributed the ball to front row forward Ethan Ando who drew the tacklers and a well-timed pass on the opposition 22 set up a Leon Paul try under the posts which was unconverted. After that bright start the visitor’s directness faltered.
On a damp morning, loose passes and slow reactions to the ball on the floor cost Gordano first territory and then a scrambled try for the hosts, which with the conversion gave them a 2 point lead. Sharks stabilised their play and as a result of strong scrummaging from the new look front row of Jayden Brown, Morgan Stockford and Ethan Ando, recovered some composure. The ambition to attack at all times, even from their own 5m line, and to pass when in contact led to dropped balls pounced on by the home team which allowed St Brendan’s to extend their lead to 24 points to 5 through a series of well worked tries. Sharks had given too much space to the hosts, who with well-placed tactical kicks and aggressive running, established a dominance on the score sheet. In the final move of the half an assertive tackle by Ethan Ando led to turnover ball and the ball was moved well left and right to allow an Isaac Barr try converted by Leon to pull the hosts lead back to 12 points at the whistle.
Sharks started the second half with an improved composure, intensity and urgency. It led to improved ball retention and time played in the opposition half for Gordano. A fine run out of defence by Ed Magromalis returning to the flank was rewarded initially with a James Hawkins try as the scrum half exploited the spaces available in the St Brendan’s line. Converted by Leon to make it 24-17. Minutes later Sharks back line thrust forward and a Leon Paul kick put Isaac Barr through to pick up and score a converted try (Conv. Leon) that levelled the scores at 24 all.
The Sharks scrum had begun to impose a dominance on the set piece and intense rucking and mauling gave the Gordano backs improved ball and position. Only a well-read interception try for the hosts in the Gordano 22 blemished a much-improved performance by the red and blacks. From 29-24 down the reinvigorated visitors began to play their best rugby of the game and of their season. Kody Golding, playing as full back, came into the line 5 metres out to score and level the points at 29 all.
The visitors regained the lead as Leon Paul scored captain’s try after a strong run which he converted to make 29-36 to Sharks. The next Gordano try came as again James Hawkins exploited the St Brendan’s pressure defence to find a gap and touchdown for a try which was converted with a great kick by Macie King. The final try in the dying minutes of the match was an Isaac Barr interception converted by a drop goal from Ethan Sefton.
The 29-50 victory was testament to the impact of attitude on performance. The recovery from a hesitant first half to finish with a substantial win resulted from a squad of players learning from mistakes in a real game of two halves.