Sharks hit strides over plucky Falcons

Dampier Sharks survived a late comeback by the Karratha Falcons to get a 22-point win in an exciting league match in round 3.

Sharks led throughout the high-scoring game at Windy Ridge Oval on Friday, but Falcons proved to be tenacious opponents who never gave up and especially took it up to them in an intense final quarter.

The home team kicked ahead early on in the game’s opening term, but Falcons clawed back and were not far behind by the first break.

However, that changed in the second quarter when the Sharks took control of the game and levelled a blistering offensive onslaught at the Falcons, which went mostly unanswered.

By adding another 6.5 to their score in quick succession, Dampier was leading 12.7 (79) to 6.6 (42) by half-time.

Both teams kept up the intensity in the third term, and while the Sharks still dominated, Karratha worked hard to hang in there and prevent them from running away with the match.

Those efforts were ultimately rewarded in what was a stellar final quarter for the Falcons when their determination broke through and turned the tables on Dampier.

They fired in both offence and defence and while their 5.1 for the term was not enough for a win, by holding Dampier goalless they reduced the margin to only a few goals the difference.

The final score was 15.18 (108) to 13.8 (86).

Falcons’ Sheldon Nelly was a key fixture in his team’s forward line, scoring a staggering seven goals for the match, while Brennan Stewart was the Sharks’ top goal scorer with four to his name.

Karratha were the winners in the reserves game though where they trumped the Sharks, 11.10 (76) to 3.1 (19).

The away team got a few goals’ early lead at quarter-time and kept up the momentum from there, despite missing almost as many shots as they made.

Dampier’s players kicked one major in each of the first three quarters of the game but were held scoreless in the fourth.