Sharks on the cusp of flag glory

THE Northern Sharks went from women’s premiership easy beats to grand finalists at Rugby Park yesterday when they defeated Litchfield 22-10.

Having gone through the 2017 season winning only one match, the Sharks regrouped in the off-season under the fresh guidance of Steve Casey, and with the addition of four mid-season pick-ups from Sistaz, are now within reach of snatching the premiership cup.

They didn’t do it easy in yesterday’s preliminary final, however, as Litchfield stayed in the contest right to the last.

The scores were locked at 10-all just before the break, but with two minutes in the first half to play, La-Toniya Norris sprinted 70 metres down the right flank to cross under the posts.

The speedster’s try was converted, giving the Sharks a crucial six-point buffer, which would prove all they needed.

The Palmerston-based club didn’t let in a point during the second period, eventually sealing the deal three minutes before full time, when Leeanne Allia found a free Hanna Orr with room to move close to the line.

In the 10 minutes before Orr touched down, Litchfield almost scored on a number of occasions to level up, but fell short at the last moment because of some desperate Sharks’ defence.

In the opening stages of the first half, Bianca Stokes got the ball rolling for the Sharks with a barnstorming effort to score, but the Bears replied through a Sophie Blake try.

And the teams followed it up with another tit-for-tat exchange – before Norris’ match-turning long range effort – with the Sharks’ Kirsty Cooper and Litchfield’s Shari Togo both crossing.