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The Sharks may have begun the match in second place on the Currie Cup standings, with the Leopards in last position, but for large portions of the match it was difficult to tell which team had lost only one match this season while another had recorded just one win.
The home side managed just six points in the first half before a brace of tries from Springbok wing Odwa Ndungane in the second half broke the Leopards’ spirited defensive effort.
The first half was a rather staid and error-ridden affair as the match was bedevilled by a series of reset scrums and a rather lethargic effort from both teams which saw a number of handling errors.
The Sharks had the better of the territorial game but they battled to breach their opponents down despite the Leopards’ lock Brendan Snyman receiving a yellow-card in the 15th minute for a tip-tackle.
Sharks flyhalf Frederick Michalak had a chance to open his team’s scoring in the 21st minute but his attempted penalty drifted away to the right of the posts.
Michalak made amends in the 33rd minute with a successful penalty kick which raised an ironic cheer from the 10 338-strong crowd who were growing increasingly frustrated at the stop-start nature of the match.
Three minutes later Michalak nailed his second penalty of the evening, from straight in front of the posts, as the Sharks finally began to turn their possession and territory advantage into points as the home side went to the break leading 6-0.
The hosts brought Charl McLeod on after the break and the introduction of the scrumhalf seemed to add a bit more zip to the Sharks backline.
The Sharks finally broke down the Leopards’ defence when Ndungane was the recipient of some good interplay between the backs and forwards as the wing cantered over from close range for a converted try in the 49th minute.
Sixteen minutes into the half the Leopards finally troubled the scorers thanks to a long-range penalty from flyhalf Wesley Dunlop but much of the visitor’s hard work was undone when they received their second yellow-card of the match, in the 60th minute, when inside centre Joubert Engelbrecht was sent to the sin-bin for a professional foul.
On this occasion the Sharks benefited from their numerical advantage and Ndungane grabbed his second try of the match when he showed good strength to hold off the last defender to score in the right-hand corner.
Michalak failed with his conversion attempt but the Sharks had clawed their way to an 18-3 lead after 62 minutes.
Sharks coach John Plumtree’s mood would not have improved after replacement flanker Keegan Daniel earned himself a yellow-card with five minutes left in the game.
But the Sharks had the final say in an utterly forgettable match when replacement centre Stefan Terblanche stepped his way through a tired looking Leopards defence for the final score of the game.
SCORERS
The Sharks – Tries: Odwa Ndungane (2), Stefan Terblanche; Conversion: Frederick Michalak; Penalties: Michalak (2).
Platinum Leopards – Penalty: Wesley Dunlop.
