It was a great start to the representative season for the Sharks Tarsha Gale Cup squad who travelled to Canberra and defeated the Raiders 16-12 in their round 1 match.
After a rainy start to the day the clouds cleared to hot summers day at Raiders HQ for this game. The first quarter of the match was very tight with both teams attempting to find a rhythm.
The sharks started spreading the ball and it paid dividends with Ally Weir scoring the first try of the day. Straight after the drinks break a Sharks drop-ball resulted in a turn-over that would ultimately prove costly with Canberra running 40m to tie up the score 4-4.
Late in the first-half the Raiders found themselves in good field position after back-to-back penalties but were unable to crack the Sharks defence and at half time it was all locked up at 4 points apiece.
In the first set after the break the Sharks lost track of the count and turned the ball over cheaply to the Raiders. A couple of plays later good vision by captain Zali Hopkins resulted in an intercept and she scored under the posts for the Sharks to go ahead 10-4.
Straight after the kick-off the sharks knocked on and the Raiders made them pay scoring a try and converting to get the game back on an even keel at 10-10.
Both teams had plenty of opportunities, but mistakes close to the goal-line were keeping both teams from taking any real ascendency.
Ultimately it would be the Sharks who would prevail when Skye Brennan crashed over close to the posts late in the game to give the Sharks a 16-12 victory over the Raiders.
There were a number of great performances on the day including some great kick returns by Lilly Murdoch and plenty of work in the middle of the ruck by Sienna Stewart.
Congratulation girls on a fabulous start to the season.
Don't forget to visit ourfootyteam.com and sharks.com.au for all of the results, competition ladders, more photos as well as to stay up to date with all the latest news about the Sharks and Sharks junior representative teams.
Story & Pictures: Adam Wrightson
For high resolution photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/BSnPw3vYX3PiL6gNA
Round 1 - Team List
Lilly Murdoch
Ella Gould
Chloe Boston
Ella Barker
Taylor Charman
Ally Weir
Zali Hopkins (c)
Kirsty Sant
Sienna Stewart
Skye Brennan
Tayah Beckett
Sophia Griffin
Erika Kavana Interchange
Sarah Archer
Lilli Odea
Tipani Matai
Manaia Blair
Maegan McCauley
Marama Katipa
Tayla Curtis