Northern Sharks and Palmerston Raiders play to a deadlock in women’s premiership match-up

Northern Sharks and Palmerston Raiders showed power and determination in equal measure when they played to a thrilling 14-all draw in the NRL NT Women’s Premiership.

Tasha Medbury, left, and Shayla Barba in the NRL NT women's round 5 match between the Northern Sharks and the Palmerston Raiders. Picture: Glenn Campbell

NORTHERN Sharks and Palmerston Raiders showed power and determination in equal measure when they played to a thrilling 14-all draw in the NRL NT Women’s Premiership.

It was the first time the two sides had met in the 2021 Women’s Premiership despite being 12 rounds into the competition, with deferred and cancelled games delaying their meeting.

Sharks missing some of their big guns such as Deanna Peckham and Crystal Browne looked to poke holes in the Palmerston defence early on.

MORE NT SPORT STORIES

The NT News looks at the talking points from Round 12 of the 2021 NRL NT season

Northern Sharks boosted their case for finals footy after dismantling Litchfield Bears in round 12

Nightcliff Dragons looking for clinical performance against South Darwin in NRL NT round 12 contest

And they did just that running around the fringes and finding gaps to put Chloe Callaghan through for the opening try.

Quick deliveries from Natasha Medbury saw the Northern Sharks maintain that early momentum with Jo De La Couer the try scorer on this occasion.

But Palmerston weren’t going to let another through without a response pushing their way up the field and sending Ciara Aigea crashing through to add to her season try tally.

Momentum continued to shift towards the Raiders late in the opening half as they continued to barge their way up the field with Marjorie Litisone crossing for the sides second score.

Sharks however rediscovered their mojo early in the second period with some deft passes distributing the ball out to De La Couer who sprinted down the left wing for her second try.

Palmerston then threw everything they had at the Sharks defence but the team in blue held on through long periods of pressure.

But they couldn’t hold forever with the Raiders coming again and again until Samantha Smith found her way over the line levelling the scores once again.

The draw was a pleasing one for Sharks coach Richard Hill who praised his side’s defence.

“We were missing five of our regular senior women so that was a good showing from us that displayed our depth,” Hill said.

“I was impressed with the defensive line, where they went in to tackle for one another and held the big girls from Palmerston out, it was great.”

Palmerston coach Noah Pattiselanno was equally pleased with his side’s performance sta

“It was pretty hectic out there with all the tension across the field and I had no idea what the result was going to be,” he said.

“There were was a numbers of times where we thought we had it but credit to Sharkies, they put up a massive effort and held on. It was a solid game from both sides.”