Knights' Dinie Hj Abu Bakar (L) being chased down by the Sharks' Julian Penstone. BT/Syarif Rasani
Knights' Lim Shen Quan (L) making a run during their match against the UBD Sharks. BT/Syarif Rasani
The Knights Rugby Football Club edged the Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD) Sharks 30-22 to go two for two in the Brunei Rugby Football Union (BRFU) Premiership yesterday.
It was a fairly even battle between the Knights and Sharks sharing the same possession leading up to the first try.
Knights' Abdul Azim Hj Abu Bakar dived over the Sharks to score the opener after a quick pick up when his teammate Md Syazwan Masri was brought down inches away from the try line in the 14th minute to go ahead 5-0.
The Sharks didn't waste any time and took back possession from kick-off, which was followed by a string off passes down the back line that ended in the hands of Mohd Wafiy Hj Adanan who equaled the game at 5-5 two minutes later.
Knights Lim Shen Quan took back the lead after a skillful run dodging four Sharks inside their 20 meter line before placing the ball to bring the score to 10-5.
Sharks Muhd Ali Nurul Saffuan Muhd Ali leveled the scores once again after six waves of crashes into the Knights.
Saffuan squeezed through a tight gap in the Knights' wall after two quick passes from their sixth ruck to score the 27th minute try.
The Sharks' Ron Junior Philip put his team in front after side stepping his way past five Knights starting his run from just outside their 20 meter line in the 45th minute.
Mohd Aliuddin Awang Timbang scored the conversion to make it 17-10 to the Sharks at the UBD Field.
Saffuan added another try to his name after a quick pick up from a ruck with no Knights in his way to bring the scores to 22-10 in the 49th minute.
The Knights started their comeback through Hj Rozaimienizam Hj Jainal, who received the ball after two quick passes from a scrum right in front of the try line to make it 22-15 in the 59th minute.
Md Syahidin Badaruddin made a break past the Sharks who eventually brought him down, but Md Nur Hafidz Putra Manjanai quickly retrieved the ball and made a quick run to trail 22-20 in the 66th minute.
Knights Ak Md Amir Ritauddin Pg Murshaidi put his team ahead after they won a scrum in front of the Sharks' try line.
Ak Md Amir picked up the ball and made the short run to lead 25-22 in the 75th minute.
Dinie Hj Abu Bakar scored during the last play of the match after intercepting a Sharks pass not far from the try line.
Knights Muhammad Hijan Hj Amran believes his team is in a good position after securing their second win after taking out Miri Rhinos 46-29 last Sunday.
"It was a tight game. Sharks showed us a bit of effort and then we hit back and showed them what we had," Hijan told The Brunei Times.
"A lot of our new players were in and we struggled a bit with our play but with managed to overcome everything at the end.
"At first, yes, we were down... But as the seniors picked up the game from the juniors, we prevailed.
"We are looking forward to our next game with the Bandar Blacks, and again, we will be playing with our juniors to expose them to situations they will face in the senior league," added Hijan.
The other match of the day between the Belait Pythons and Bandar Blacks was postponed due to a lack of spotlights.
