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South Wales Warriors 0 Cornish Sharks 6
The Cornish Sharks are celebrating their 6-0 win over the
South Wales Warriors, conference champions for the past four years. Gale
force winds and teaming rain were the conditions that faced Cornish Sharks and
the South Wales Warriors in their much anticipated rematch. The
Warriors, unbeaten in two seasons travelled to Newquay for this "top of
the table clash" following their narrow win over the Sharks
(7-3) back in May - their third win over the Sharks since the
Sharks joined the league in 2007.
The Sharks were hoping to prove their latest run of
success could be continued over the Conference Champions, especially since the
loss in May was hard to swallow as it was a result of several rookie mistakes
including four missed field goals and two balls dropped in the end zone.
Despite the conditions, there was a good turnout of
supporters for both sides and the game started with the players already
drenched after their warm up.
Sharks showed their determination to set the tone by
scoring a touchdown from a pass to Ricky Tanner who ran 37 yards to score
only 10 minutes into the game. The score was 6-0 but the Sharks didn't
manage to score the additional point after a muffed snap went straight to
the kicker, Kiell Purell who scrambled but was unable to correct the mistake.
The strong defense on both teams came into play and the
rest of the match was an agonising battle of wills as the Sharks were
determined to maintain the lead and the Warriors were just as determined
to break out and score. On the day, it wasn't to be for the Welsh as the Sharks
managed to hold the Warriors defense and when the final whistle blew the
result was as it had been at the end of the first quarter 6-0 to the Sharks.
The Warriors were gracious in defeat and joined the Sharks
for drinks and a BBQ after the game. Coach Smallworth, Head Coach of the
Sharks was delighted to say the least and said, "We always knew this would
be a tough game and prepared well. Having lost our first game to the
Warriors by such a close margin, we knew this would go down to the wire.
The weather conditions were atrocious which was a major factor in the
game. We also knew from the conditions that it would
be a short passing game and the majority of the plays would be running so
we took away their passing game which meant they had to run and we held them to
under 80 yards all day with some outstanding defense. By forcing the
Warriors to make a number of errors and having recovered the football 6 times
from them our offense struggled with the conditions being slippery under
foot it was difficult to continue the drives. I am proud of their performance,
especially defeating such a good team, people will have to start taking us more
seriously".