The Wingham Tigers travelled to the Regional Stadium at Port Macquarie in Group Three Rugby League and, for the first time in 2016, came away without a win in any grade.
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In first grade, the Port Macquarie Sharks were the competition leaders, just ahead of the Tigers, and the home team came out to bash Wingham from the start
An early try from dummy half put the Sharks up 6-0.
After a quarter of an hour, captain coach Kurt Lewis made a break, and found Joel Kleindeinst backing up to score.
Five minutes later, the home team were in again for a controversial try.
A last tackle chip kick was about to be regathered by Joel Kleindeinst who was accidentally tripped by an opponent, who then gathered the ball to run away and score for a 12-4 lead.
With a mounting injury toll, Wingham then scored through Thomas Dooker. Michael Bailey added the extra points to trail 12-10.
But the Sharks hit back with back-to-back tries to take the score to 24-10. A try to Matt Bridge, right on half time, converted by Michael Bailey, kept the Tigers in the game trailing by 24-16.
Twelve minutes into the second half, the home team went ahead with another dummy half try and a 30-16 advantage. In the aftermath of the try, Michael Rees was sin-binned.
Despite being a man down, Michael Bailey swooped on a dropped ball and ran 90 metres to score, and Wingham trailed by 10 points. But again the home team hit back with a try to lead 36-20. With their full complement back, the Tigers tried to rally late.
From a scrum win, Kurt Lewis put in a kick, and Micheal Bailey outpaced the defence to score, and trailed by just 12 points with time running out.
A late try to the Sharks from an intercept made the final score 42-24.
Although beaten, there was a lot to like from the Tigers gritty performance.
Sharks coach Joe Cudmore said his side remembered the disappointment of being beaten by the Tigers in May and used it as motivation to return to the top of the ladder.
“When you get beaten by a side you mark it in the calendar for next time, that’s how the Sharks operate and that’s the mentality we have as a football club,” he said.
The impressive Sharks victory came on the back of a lopsided penalty count which stood unofficially at 17-8 at full-time.
Cudmore was measured in his response when asked about it.
“I don’t need to say anything more when it’s like that,” he said.
The Sharks coach was disappointed his side conceded 24 points and said they still had room for improvement.
“We let them score a few soft tries there but that comes in footy and they’re a talented team so our defence needs to tighten up.”
(Michael Bailey 2, Joel Kleindeinst, Thomas Dooker, Matt Bridge tries, Michael Bailey 2 goals)