Lyon levelled at 33-all with 30 seconds left, but the Hollywoodbets Sharks kept the ball for two minutes and Litelihle Bester scored the winner in a bonus-point EPCR Challenge Cup thriller.
The Hollywoodbets Sharks met the challenge of the EPCR Challenge Cup head on with an incredibly brave performance overcoming the odds of playing away in France to defeat Lyon 40-33 at Matmut Stadium de Gerland in a thriller on Saturday afternoon.
A minute’s silence was held before kick-off in respect of the tragic passing of former Hollywoodbets Sharks lock Hyron Andrews and the Durban side honoured his memory with a stunning performance.
Although Lyon came out of the starting blocks playing the kind of high tempo game afforded by their artificial pitch, inaccuracy on attack saw possession turned over, a scrum penalty kicked to touch and then quick thinking from scrumhalf Ivan van Zyl who attacked the blindside, feeding Litelihle Bester who rounded the defence to score in the corner.
Lyon threw everything into attack but were denied twice, once by the TMO and then the ball lost in the tackle in the process of a quick tap penalty. Then giving away a scrum penalty – the second – allowed the visitors the perfect exit from their 22.
10 minutes after the first try and within the first quarter, Lyon found that throwing the ball around in the Hollywoodbets Sharks’ half could prove costly as Jaco Williams read the perfect intercept of a floated pass under pressure and when Hendrikse converted, the Durban side enjoyed a healthy 12-nil lead.
But the run of play had been with the home side for most of the opening 20 minutes and they struck back with venom, a 30m break from a scrum set up Lyon’s first try in the 22nd minute, the conversion cutting the scoreline to 12-7.
Lyon struck a second blow less than 10 minutes later as the game hit the half hour mark, a penalty kicked to touch and then the long overthrow at the lineout into space and an inside pass to earn the brace, the conversion taking them into the lead for the first time in the game.
With a winning scrum, the Hollywoodbets Sharks set up their third try, outmuscling Lyon and earning a crucial score with five minutes left of the entertaining first half, a number of close-quarter attacks thwarted before Manu Tshituka was helped over, with Hendrikse adding the extras for a 19-14 lead.
They almost scored the bonus point as half-time loomed, with Jaco Williams knocked into touch in the process of trying to dot down after an exciting build-up and then Tshituka denied two minutes into extra time before a few more moments of frenzied play took the match into the break.
Five minutes into the second half, the home side scored their third, having enjoyed almost all the possession in that period and making good to level matters, before the touchline conversion put the French back in front.
A scrum penalty following a mesmerising 60m break from the hugely exciting Zekhethelo Siyaya set the Hollywoodbets Sharks up for the perfect response, and the fullback was instrumental in the next attack that came agonisingly close to a fourth try.
But the belief was there and confidence high and that could only mean one thing: try time!
Captain Nick Hatton closed out the bonus point under the posts following a determined but scintillating build-up from the backline and when Hendrikse converted, his team held a 26-21 lead with 25 minutes left to play.
As the game entered the final quarter, yet another scrum penalty had the Hollywoodbets Sharks fighting for a score to put some breathing space between themselves and the hosts, and it was Siyaya who rounded off a lovely sweeping move in the corner, with Hendrikse converting from out wide and importantly, stretching the lead to 12 points.
But Lyon continued the see-saw nature of the game as they hit pay dirt to score in the corner after a frenzied passage of play where they were held up short, lost another scrum to a penalty, but won a lineout and then went over for an unconverted try.
But with 30 seconds left on the clock, Lyon conjured up an unlikely draw as they scored under the posts to bring matters level at 33-all.
If the hosts thought they had pulled a rabbit out of the hat, the Hollywoodbets Sharks closed the game out with some real magic, maintaining possession for two minutes with a patient and accurate build-up before Litelihle Bester received the final pass to score and Hendrikse converted to close out an absolute thriller.
