The Hollywoodbets Sharks XV took a 22-all draw and three valuable log points out of Friday evening’s Carling Currie Cup clash with the Fidelity ADT Lions at Woodburn Stadium, but it could have been a full-house but for a late equaliser from the visitors.
In a match fiercely fought between the two old foes, contesting at lineouts, scrums under the high ball and at the breakdown changed the flow of momentum regularly as the teams hammered away at each other for 83 breathtaking minutes.
It was a brave effort from the Hollywoodbets Sharks XV who came agonisingly close to a bonus point victory, only to see the visitors claim a try right at the death and well into extra time.
An early setback saw the Hollywoodbets Sharks XV reduced to 14 men, but they rallied well and in fact dictated the run of play with some exciting, attacking rugby that nearly culminated in a try during that 10-minute period.
The visitors’ first scoring opportunity only came in the 15th minute, when on attack and earning a penalty, they opted for posts to break the deadlock to take a 3-nil lead.
The following 15 minutes saw both sides pushing hard, but not quite sustaining the pressure enough to threaten, before a penalty for the home side was kicked to touch, the lineout successful and the maul effective, before captain and scrumhalf Ross Braude somehow darted between the defenders to score the match’s opening try on the half hour for a 5-3 lead.
With three minutes of the first half remaining, a patient build-up from the Fidelity ADT Lions was finally rewarded with their first try of the match, the conversion taking them into a 10-5 lead with just a couple of minutes remaining.
There was a last gasp effort from the Hollywoodbets Sharks XV as they came agonisingly close to scoring, but the visitors’ defence was able to hold out to close the half with a five-point lead.
But the threat was real and determined and within three minutes of the second half, the Hollywoodbets Sharks XV took the lead when hooker Liam van Wyk broke from a rolling maul and caught the opposition defence napping as he ran in his team’s second try with Tim Swiel adding the extras to go 12-10 ahead.
Try number three came less than five minutes later following a dominant scrum and then quite superb play across the board in a team try that had danger written all over it and the perfect finish out wide to extend the lead as Christie Grobbelaar took the ball at pace and there was no stopping him as he scored a sublime try in the corner.
But the visitors equalised with a converted try following some brave defence before the momentum stuck and at 17 points apiece, there was everything to play for and the final quarter beckoning.
With three minutes remaining, Meno Barnard closed out a quite spectacular attack that had all the promise of a try right from the start of the play to wrestle the lead back again and a few minutes to negotiate against a final push from the visitors.
Three minutes of extra time attacking play from the Fidelity ADT Lions tested the home team defence to the very limit and they eventually broke through to level the scores, but the pressure conversion was pushed wide to close out a tense but hugely entertaining game with the spoils shared.
The three log points gained from the match keep the Hollywoodbets Sharks in contention for a semi-final place with one round remaining when they host the Vodacom Blue Bulls - who prop up the table having lost all six pool games – at Hollywoodbets Kings Park on Friday evening.
