Sharks hold off Reds
The Sharks survived a late onslaught from the Reds to seal a crucial Super 14 victory in Durban.
Last Updated: 04/04/10 12:06pm
The Sharks survived a late onslaught from the Reds to seal a crucial Super 14 victory in Durban.
Tries either side of half-time from Will Chambers, combined with an earlier Quade Cooper effort, earned the visitors a commanding 12-point lead at one stage, only for scores from Odwa Ndungane, Jacques Botes and JP Pietersen to hand the initiative back to the hosts.
Greg Holmes' late try proved only to be a consolation as John Plumtree's men held on to make it three wins on the trot to revive their play-off hopes.
The Sharks dominated early on but their only reward was three points from the boot of Ruan Pienaar - Adam Byrnes conceding the initial penalty after incorrect entry into a maul.
Having weathered that early storm, the visitors then took the lead with their first attack after Will Genia recycled quickly to Cooper, who beat three defenders before scoring over under the posts.
The fly-half put over the easy conversion, before the Sharks began to rebuild again.
They should have cut the deficit before the 20-minute mark, but Pienaar struck the upright with his second kick - awarded after Anthony Faingaa failed to release in the tackle.
But the number nine made amends by sending over two more penalties - both conceded by the Australian side at the breakdown - to put the Sharks ahead.
Cooper then showed excellent vision when his cross-field kick picked out Luke Morahan, but the winger failed to gather with the try-line gaping.
Interval lead
But Chambers did ensure the visitors an interval lead, running into a gap and shrugging off two tackles to score on the stroke of half-time.
Cooper converted to leave the Reds 14-9 ahead, before a second score from Chambers extended the lead even further after the break - Cooper again delivering the telling pass for his side and then adding the extras.
The Sharks tried to hit back via the boot of Pienaar, who missed a penalty straight after, but the home crowd were finally rewarded when Ndungane crossed the line with the visitors outnumbered in defence.
Pienaar converted and then did the same before the hour mark when the hosts grabbed their second try, thanks to a push-over effort from Botes, which put them back in the lead.
The Reds finally succumbed to conceding a third try thanks to more heavy pressure and a quick pick-up by JP Pietersen, who scored under the posts.
Pienaar extended the lead, but the Queensland side refused to give in with Holmes setting up a tense finish when he crossed and Cooper converted to cut the gap to two with 10 minutes to play.
