STIFLING defence, great ball movement, a thumping home win and a dominant performance by Todd Cauthorn. It could have been 1998 instead of 2008 last night at the English Institute of Sport, Sheffield.
Given that the building where the Sharks demolished Cheshire Jets was not even standing when 37-year-old assistant-coach Cauth-orn, who retired two years ago, was in his heyday, it is even more remarkable that he was able to turn in the kind of display he did.
With Arnaud Dahi out injured, player-coach Atiba Lyons had to call upon Cauthorn to slip on the blue and gold No 14 vest one more time – and the big man delivered, yet again.
To be fair, it was not just Cauthorn. After a humbling by Everton, Sharks were a different team this week. Matt Gorman was once again the stand-out player, but he was aided by his front court partner Chris Sanders in subduing the experienced Cheshire forward line.
Lyons himself threw off the shackles of his coaching position to do his bit, James Whyte scored a solid 17 points and the backcourt pairing of Sherman Rivers and Perry Lawson looked like they could provide a lot of fun for Sharks fans.
Jets had been expected to give Sheffield another tough match but a superb first quarter, capped by a Lawson three on the buzzer, handed the home team a 34-19 lead.
By half time it was 54-32 and Sharks put the match away for good late in the third quarter with three three-pointers to head into the final quarter 83-54 up.
Despite his team's excellent performance, coach Lyons was circumspect about his first competitive win.
"I don't think you should get too happy when you win or too sad when you lose. The season is still very young but I'm delighted to get that first win.
Sharks scorers: Gorman 22, Sanders 18, Whyte 17, Lawson 15, Rivers 11, Cauthorn 10, Lyons 10, Burns 6.
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