Super Rugby: Sharks see off Crusaders thanks to Pat Lambie's boot
Sharks fly-half Pat Lambie kicked seven penalties to give the hosts a 21-17 victory over the Crusaders at Kings Park.
Last Updated: 05/04/13 9:12pm
Andy Ellis scored the game's only try for the seven-time champions, who had led for most of the game, thanks also to four penalties from their fly-half Tyler Bleyendaal.
John Plumtree's men started well and were rewarded with a second minute penalty, against Zac Guildford for offside, with Lambie slotting over.
But a fine line-break by Ryan Crotty allowed the visitors to dash in to the home 22 shortly after and, when a maul developed, Tendai Mtawarira came in from the side to hand the Crusaders a penalty, which Bleyendaal knocked over.
Another infringement from the New Zealanders, this time via prop Wyatt Crockett, let Lambie take the hosts to 6-3.
The Crusaders then secured the first try of the game in the nineteenth minute when a powerful run by Robbie Fruean down the left saw him slip the ball wide to Adam Whitelock, who came back inside and offloaded to Ellis to score.
Bleyendaal missed the conversion and a subsequent penalty on the half-hour mark, before finally finding his range again before the break when Marcell Coetzee was offside.
However, a shoulder charge by Fruean after the hooter enabled Lambie to cut the gap to two as the players headed for the dressing room.
The visitors scored the first points of the second half six minutes in when Bleyendaal slotted over from straight in front after a Francois Steyn high tackle.
The Sharks finally managed to score points courtesy of two penalties, both 120 seconds apart and both conceded by Crockett.
Lambie landed both before the hour mark as the Sharks re-took the lead for the first time since early in the game, before Bleyendaal sent over three more points for the Crusaders when the Sharks forwards failed to roll out of the way.
With 11 minutes to play, the home side won an excellent scrum penalty right in front, allowing Lambie to kick them back into the lead.
And they stayed there after Bleyendaal missed two long-range attempts and the Springbok fly-half added another penalty close to the end to secure a memorable win.
