Moala shines as Sharks still afloat with narrow win

Sometimes entire seasons can come down to a few critical moments and on Saturday, the Western Sharks' faithful collectively held their breath as Hugh Rawiri slotted a penalty to take them to a 12-10 lead over Wellsford with time almost up on the clock.
They hooted, they cheered and then a few moments later they were holding their breath again - this time as Wellsford's Johnny Moimoi lined up a kick that just drifted to the right of the posts - giving victory to the Sharks and their oxygen deprived supporters.
The win at RD1 Park was essential for the Sharks - anything less could have seen them drop out of contention for the playoffs, skipper David Pullman said.
"We wanted five points but we'll take four today ... discipline was lacking a bit  and the boys were guilty of chatting to the referee too much," he said.
The Sharks are still improving, he said, and building a strong squad has been their aim this season.
"The boys understand that if one of them doesn't start too good one week, he'll come off the bench next week - we're just trying to mould a team together. It's not about 15 players though, it's about 22," he said.
The Dargaville-area team continue to attract new players with their latest recruit, former King Country representative Latu Moala, having a storming game at No 8.
The match never reached great heights with plenty of errors, due in part to several rain showers, but no-one was heading for the exits while the result remained in question. The match was worth watching for the ferocity of both side's defence alone.
The Sharks dominated possession in the first spell but Wellsford's defence near their line foiled several scoring opportunities - most of them coming from incisive runs by centre Tama Herman. They led 6-0 at the break, with both team's goalkickers missing chances they would have kicked on better days.
Wellsford took the lead two minutes into the second spell, when a great Moimoi side-step cut a hole in the Sharks defence and the ever-present Jojo Ranger was on hand to score. Moimoi converted and added a penalty shortly afterward before the game stagnated slightly with referee Boris Jurlina sinbinning a player from either side - almost at random - after having enough of both side's continual infringements aimed at slowing ruck ball down.
With time running short the Sharks launched their final assault but were pulled up just short of the tryline at least four times in the final 10 minutes by some spectacular defence.
But when Wellsford failed to clear their line, they eventually fell foul of the new IRB laws, giving Rawiri his chance to kick the winner.
Wellsford coach Haydn Ferris was pleased with the way his side played for most of the match - particularly their commitment in defence.
"The game could have gone either way and missing a few shots at goal cost us dearly but having said that a team of our quality shouldn't leave it to kicking to determine wehether we're going to win or lose," he said.
He said if they had played throughout the match as they did at the beginning of the second spell they would have won the match. "But you have to give credit to the Sharks they've improved a hell of a lot and they played with passion in front of their home crowd," he said.
Western Sharks 12 (H Rawiri 4 pen) Wellsford 10 (J Ranger try, J Moimoi pen, con)