Sharks face battle to avoid drop after suffering third straight loss

Paul March landed the conversion to Owen Lumbs try but it was no more than a consolation as Shaw Cross slipped to a third straight defeat at the hands of Lock Lane in National Conference Division One. Picture: Paul Butterfield

The visitors were leading inside four minutes as a knock on allowed them to move downfield, kicking on the last tackle with the ball patted back for Connor Land to run in.

The half-back added the extras for the first of his nine successful conversions and Lock Lane were well on their way.

A second try came soon after as Chris Siddons broke through the defence and offloaded for Price to speed away and score.

Michael Quinn then had to make a crucial interception to prevent an offload on the ground sending them over again.

The Sharks had a decent spell but the next try went the way of the visitors, with the ball moved right and Ben Strong crashed over.

Lock Lane had Rob Firth sent to the sin bin for a stamp on Brandon French, but that didn’t prevent them extending their lead before the break when Siddons skipped through to score between the posts.

Lock Lane kept going where the left off after the break, with Craig Savage stepping round the defence to run in for the first try of the second half.

That was quickly followed by another, as Luke Tagg broke through the line and passed inside for Price to score.

A decent spell of pressure brought no reward for the Sharks and it ended abruptly with Land racing the length of the pitch for his second try.

The home side did finally get something for their efforts around the hour mark though, as full-back Owen Lumb broke through the line and raced away to score a try converted by Paul March.

Lock Lane took back control quickly, helped by French’s sin binning.

Danny Lidbury bombed a certain try by knocking on as he looked to touch down but he quickly made up for it by grounding his own kick to the in goal after a break down the left.

The visitors added two further scores before the final whistle, with both Jordan Bull and Tom Sowerby racing down the field for tries in the final minutes.

The Sharks remain second-bottom in the table, three points adrift of Ince Rose Bridge, who are just above the relegation zone with three matches remaining.