Martin’s magic gives Sharks a maiden victory

DARLINGTON Mowden Park Sharks notched up their first win of the Premier 15s season against Loughborough Lightning.

The home side started brightly, winning a series of penalties in the Lightning half and enjoying the lion’s share of possession. Lisa Martin and George Roberts looked lively in midfield.

Loughborough began getting more of a foothold however, and were held up over the line twice. The deadlock was broken on 24 minutes as a strong drive from the visitors resulted in a try for Catherine O’Donnell.

The windy conditions played havoc with the resulting conversion, forcing Jones into a rushed drop goal which went wide.

The hosts hit back minutes later through Mackenzie Thomas who dived over to level the scores.

Loughborough were held up once more in goal, the Sharks defence holding firm as the wind continued to make the kicking game difficult, but it was the Sharks who scored next to take the lead. A quick tapand-go from Martin saw the Scottish captain power over just before half-time, taking the scores to 10-5.

The back-and-forth scoring continued in the second period as Loughborough levelled the scores through Lizzie Adam, who sped away to score in the corner.

Martin put the Sharks back into the lead on 60 minutes with a well-kicked penalty, setting up a grandstand last quarter.

Martin kicked another penalty to extend DMP’s lead to six, before a nervy final five minutes. But DMP held their nerve and did what they needed to in order to record their first win of the campaign.