A solid defensive effort in the first half was spoiled by a less than stellar second 40 minutes as the NYC Sharks went down by 28-12 to the Wests Tigers in their trial match at Campbelltown Stadium.
The Sharks went to the break ahead by 12-4 however the tide turned quickly, with the Tigers scoring six tries in a convincing second half performance.
While some positives can be taken from the defensive commitment in the opening half the loss now leaves the Sharks with some work to do ahead of their season opener against the Canberra Raiders on March 8.
The match began well enough for the young Sharks when a Tigers error from the opening kick off gifted the Sharks possession and it didn’t take long for them to capitalise, backrower Ashleigh Nisbett slipping a clever pass for Josh Addo Carr to score.
With no conversion attempts in the trial the Sharks led 4-0 after barely two minutes of the match had elapsed.
Their opponents responded with a try out wide and they dominated the next period of the game, a combination of Sharks errors and good play from the Tigers seeing them camped deep in Cronulla territory for an extended period.
To their credit the Sharks withstood the pressure and their efforts were rewarded, with Connor Tracey slicing through from short range to put his team back in front.
While the rest of the half wasn’t overly pretty, coach James Shepherd would have been pleased with the goal line defense and when an individual effort from Addo-Carr saw him cross for a second he would have been a satisfied coach at 12-4 ahead.
The second half however saw a significant shift in the moment, with Wests finding gaps up the middle of the field with the first half difference in possession possibly telling on the young Sharks.
Again handling let the Sharks down but in giving credit to their opponents the young Tigers were full of running, with their six try half a display of their dominance.
The Sharks appeared to come away from the match with no serious injury concerns and now have a touch over two weeks to get themselves ready for the start of the 2015 NYC season.
Sharks 12
Addo-Carr 2, Tracey tries
lost to
Wests Tigers 28
