Injury hit Sharks suffer defeat at leaders after promising first half display

The first half was an even affair, with the Sharks leading after half an hour before two late tries saw them behind at the break.

However, injuries and a lack of fit bodies took their toll as the Recs racked up a heavy score in the second period.

The Sharks had made a promising start, competing well in the first 30 minutes and looking very strong in defence when under pressure.

The deadlock was finally broken by Matthew Tebb, who managed to dart over from acting half-back, with Ryan Chalkley adding the goal.

However, the home side turned the game on its head with two tries in the final four minutes of the first half.

Ryan Hilliard slipped in Jake Hodson in the left corner to finish a quick move, before Joe Chow broke through the defence and passed to the supporting Ryan Stevens to score.

The second half was mostly one-way traffic as the decimated Sharks struggled to deal with the much sharper Pilkington side.

Their first try of the second period came through Ian Stanley, who crossed down the left side, and they added to that after forcing a drop out when Jono Peers found a gap to cross down the middle.

Peers got his second moments later as he charged through again, before Stanley got his second by squeezing into the corner after good work from Hilliard.

Hilliard was then on the scoresheet himself as he broke through the tiring defence to take Pilkington up to 40 points.

The Sharks managed to settle into the half a little after that, and got a score back when Chalkley claimed a high ball and managed to get the ball outside to young winger Levon Heaps to score on his Sharks senior debut.

There were two more tries for the home side in the final five minutes though, as Luke Riley went over and Hilliard completed his brace to finish the game at 50-10.

Defeat was the third in the space of a week for the Sharks, following a 30-12 loss at Lock Lane the previous weekend and a 31-18 reversal at the hands of Yorkshire Men’s League Premier Division side Batley Boys in the Jim Brown Heavy Woollen Cup quarter-final in midweek.

n Dewsbury Celtic recorded an impressive 50-10 away win at Gateshead Storm in NCL Division Three.

Pat Foulstone, Nathan Waring, Paul Foulstone, Dominic Senior, Tom Bottomley, Thomas Norris, Billy Yarrow and Danny Thomas, who grabbed a brace, were the Celtic try scorers.

Foulstone kicked six goals and Tom Halloran added one as Celtic racked up a half century of points to pick up a seventh win of the season, which leaves them sixth in the table, four points off second.