Sharks Restore to Winning Ways against Renegades

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The Cornish Sharks hosted the second of their five home games of the season in sunny Newquay on Saturday in front of another bumper crowd of fans.  The Berkshire Renegades made the journey to try and break the losing streak they have had against the Sharks, who have beaten them on every encounter including the first away game of this season.  After the heartbreaking loss the weekend before, the Sharks wanted to get back to their winning ways and the crowd were not disappointed, with the Sharks taking their third win out of four games scoring 31-0 at the final whistle.

The Berkshire Renegades (formerly Reading) kicked off the game and Shark’s kick returner Lee Ambridge, MVP from the previous week’s game, ran the ball back to the 50 yard line giving the Sharks a good field position to start their offensive drive.  The first couple of plays the Sharks moved the ball well but at the 20 yard it was fumbled and recovered by the Renegades, who quite frankly couldn’t believe their luck!  They were unable to capitalize however, as in the first play, the Renegades quarterback missed his target and it was immediately intercepted by Shark’s Corner Alex Bonner and in no time, the Sharks were over the line with their first touchdown run in by running back Andy Dixon (sponsored by Newquay Arms).  The Sharks gave away a five yard penalty to take their extra point, which despite both teams thinking was good, was disallowed by the referees.

The Sharks kicked off again and the Renegades returned making a little ground in a few short plays but got stuck and had to punt.  The Sharks got hold of the ball at the 15yard line and started back.  Another fumble by the Sharks gave the Renegades possession again but once again, the Renegades again got held and had to punt.  Shark’s Kiel Micallef ran it back to the 50 yard lines but the team gave away another penalty.  It was a slow start to the second quarter but Ian Taylor, the Shark’s veteran running back who had scored 3 touchdowns in the game against the Olympians the previous week, drove the ball across the line for the Shark’s second touchdown of the day.  Again, the point after was no good, but it gave the Sharks a 12-0 lead at half time.

The game thus far had seemed a little lacklustre, however after half time, the Sharks came out with a little more fire and it wasn’t long before they achieved their third TD of the game, scored again by running back Andy Dixon (sponsored by Newquay Arms).  This time the field goal taken by kicker Kiell Purell, returning to football after a serious ankle injury, was good and the Sharks went further ahead to 19-0.  As the 3rd quarter continued, there were further gains by the Sharks and the Renegades seemed to run out of steam.  The weather, although beautiful, was hard for players in their helmets and other protective equipment and there were a number of water breaks and the Sharks for a second successive game, gave up a lot of ground through unnecessary penalties, so at times the game was slow.  Towards the latter half of the 4th quarter however, Ian Taylor scored his second TD of the day bringing the score to 25-0 and Andy Dixon (sponsored by Newquay Arms) finished the game with his third TD of the day bringing the final score to 31-0.

Brian Smallworth, head coach of the Cornish Sharks said after the game “Although we had beaten Berkshire in all previous encounters, you cannot take any team for granted and after the hard fought battle last weekend, I think the players came out a bit flat.  The half time score of 12-0 injected some reality and the second half was definitely more of a game, although the Renegades never really seemed to get going on a good drive.  They did however, play well considering their mid-season change in coaching staff and it was good so many of them travelled to Newquay to bring the game to us.  I am pleased with my players’ performance overall, but we are still giving up too much ground in penalties and that is something as coaches, we will have to address.  As a team we can’t thank the supporters enough – for a second week running they came out in large numbers to cheer us on and I know that means a lot to the players.  Next Sunday’s match against the Hampshire Thrashers, who are currently sitting top of our South West Division will indeed be a different matter and we will have to be “on our game” from the start to the finish.  I am looking forward to our mid-week training session and I am sure the players will be ready to take our campaign to Hampshire.  We have not won a game at Hampshire before and they have not beaten us at our home ground, so both teams will be looking to change that.”

Ends

For further information or electronic/hard copies of photographs, please contact Sharon Smallworth, Marketing & Fundraising on 07789484817 or email mrscoach@innisrhia.eclipse.co.uk or Brian Smallworth, Head Coach on 07786370980 or email bjscoach@yahoo.com.

Photos are courtesy of Naomi Beddoe of “Outstanding Photography” – if you use the photographs the photographer should be given full credit.

Photo 1             Sharks get ready to snap the ball.

Photo 2             Shark’s defense tackles the Berkshire ball carrier.

Photo 3             Shark’s defense, led by middle line backer and Defensive Coach Levi Gustafson, tackles the Berkshire
                         ball carrier.  The Shark defense is one of the best in the Division and this is the second game this
                         season, where opponents have failed to score against them.

Photo 4             Running back Andy Dixon (Sponsored by Newquay Arms) breaks for another touchdown

Photo 5             Andy Dixon, running back, (Sponsored by Newquay Arms) on the run for a touchdown.

Photo 6             Fullback Adam Kevern blasts his way through the Berkshire defense.