Dampier Sharks grab third on NPFL ladder

The Dampier Sharks have scored a crucial away victory in Hedland, defeating the Rovers by 44 points in their round three North Pilbara Football League clash.

The Sharks took the lead early on, jumping out of the blocks on the Port Hedland Rovers’ home ground to race out to a four-goals-to-one lead before the home team fought back.

Despite the game’s fast-and-free-flowing nature, the Rovers showed resilience to stay within touch of the Sharks for the next three quarters before a dominant Dampier last term sealed the 17.5 (107) to 9.9 (63) win.

Rovers coach Greg Mastrangelo said his team had strayed from team instructions in the loss.

“Dampier came up with really good attitude and taught our guys a bit of a lesson on how to play as a united team,” he said.

“For us, we are focusing this week on bouncing back and being positive and putting in a four-quarter game against the Falcons.”

The loss puts early season pressure on the Rovers, who now lie at the bottom of the table with three straight losses.

With away wins often rare to come by in the NPFL and thereby precious accomplishments, the Sharks will take confidence from their victory, especially after they were thumped last week by Wickham.

The Sharks now sit third on the ladder with two wins and one loss as they look to go one better this year than their 2015 grand final loss to the South Hedland Swans.

The Sharks were led at the weekend by Ben Crouch and Mitch Deacon, who each booted four goals, while long running super boot Guy Langdon kicked two goals, as did Kaalem Stanes and Ashley Cooper.

Kris Brown, Lance Lawrence and Kyle Ryder booted two goals each for the Rovers.

The Rovers did take away some good news from the weekend, however, after the reserves side scored a 15.9 (99) to 8.4 (52) win over the Sharks.

Tristan Myers, Daniel Toby and Mark Cashion headed the Rovers’ score sheet, booting two goals each, while Duncan Aubrey and Gary Burden kicked two majors each for the Sharks.