Giants wounded by Sharks' bite (From Dorset Echo)

Giants wounded by Sharks' bite

8:40am Saturday 27th June 2009 in

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SOUTH DORSET GIANTS 16 DEVON SHARKS 38 CAPTAIN Mark Sample blamed his side’s sloppy handling for their defeat in this South West Conference clash.

The Giants were 28 points behind before they troubled the scoreboard and despite a spirited fight-back were comfortably beaten by a powerful Devon Sharks side.

The South Dorset coaching staff will have been furious at the basic errors that let the Sharks in for three easy first-half tries and left them with a mountain to climb.

Sample said: “I think the guys have all realised that you must look after the ball in order to build pressure on your opponents.

“Far too often this season we are putting pressure on ourselves by giving the ball away far too cheaply.”

Hooker Craig Barter led a forceful comeback which saw the Giants move within 12 points of their opponents, but the home side were again let down by their handling to eventually lose the game 38-16.

South Dorset will also be ruing the loss of Adam Hoxey, who has been ruled out for the rest of the season with a neck injury. Hoxey was one of six players who had to leave the field injured. Sample added: “We played well and scored some nice trys and I believe if we hadn’t lost six players to injury during the game the score would have been a lot closer.

“I really have to thank our physio Chris Wood who had a very busy day and did a fantastic job.”

The Giants will have to improve dramatically for their South West Cup semi-final clash against Exeter Centurions this afternoon.

They were put on the back foot right from the kick-off when Devon took advantage of a spill to take an early lead. Devon soon built on this advantage with a second try before another spilt ball allowed them to grab a third to take a 22-0 lead into the dressing room.

The Giants could easily have folded after conceding again early in the second half but got back into the game thanks to a moment of magic from Tim Comben.

An amazing run from Comben opened the Sharks’ defence. He passed to Barter who used his forwards to gain considerable headway before playing in Adam Poole to go over for the score.

The try visibly lifted the Giants with Barter beginning to cause the visitors all sorts of problems. Soon after, he used his forwards to good effect again and saw Comben over to score on the third tackle.

A wonderful double miss pass from Barter then put in newcomer Tom George to make the score 28-16 with 15 minutes to go but the Giants had begun to tire and were unable to prevent Devon finishing the game with two more tries.

The Giants play Exeter Centurions today at the Marsh (2.30pm).