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Cape Town - Sharks' coach Sean Everitt was happy with his charges' defensive efforts in their Currie Cup win over the Free State Cheetahs on the weekend.
The hosts were down 10-12 and the Cheetahs were dominating when staunch defence forced an error, allowing Aphelele Fassi to scoop the ball up and run 70 metres or a key score on the stroke of halftime.
Everitt claimed this was the turning point in the match.
"That came from some good defence work and I don't think the Cheetahs will be happy with that," he told the official Sharks' website.
"I think it was a bit of a game-changer. We had the ball for the first 10 minutes and I don't think we saw it again due to their good game management. We didn't get any territory and with that we didn't get any possession either, so to score that try against the run of play was obviously very important for us and probably somewhat lucky. But as they say, you make your own luck."
Locked at 20-all with the final hooter imminent, good ball retention would see Kobus van Wyk go over untouched to seal the win for the Sharks and keep their Currie Cup hopes alive.
"The way we defended was outstanding," continued Everitt.
"The forwards really stood up and full marks to the bench when they came on, I thought they did exceptionally well in that department."
This weekend, the Sharks travel to Johannesburg to face the Golden Lions.
Kick-off on Sunday is at 14:00 at Ellis Park.
