IT won't go down at Port City's most polished performance of 2019, but it was still worth two competition points.
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The Breakers consolidated fourth spot on the Group 3 ladder with a comfortable 36-16 local derby win over Port Macquarie on Saturday.
They were always in control of the match despite only holding a 12-6 advantage at the break before going on with the job in the second half.
While satisfied with the result, coach Dan Kemp was a bit nonplussed about the performance.
"I didn't think it was great and was a drop off in what we'd achieved the last couple of weeks, but maybe it wasn't that bad and I expected a bit more from us than where we're at at the moment," he said.
"We left quite a few points out there and that last pass didn't seem to stick when we had broken them down."
Port City could have added a couple of extra tries to the six they scored, but "bombed" a few and Kemp was confident they still had an extra couple of levels to get to.
"We're only just scratching the surface; we're only just touching on things that ideally you're working on in pre-season and we're only starting to put them into our game," he said.
"We're only just starting to add layers and I expect by the end of the year we'll be playing a very handy level of footy.
"I don't feel great about it, but maybe I'll watch the video and feel happier about it; two points is two points."
The Sharks were gutsy and gallant for 60 minutes before the Breakers skipped away in the final quarter of the match.
Their cause wasn't helped by the send-off of fullback Mitch Wilbow in the 55th minute for an alleged cannonball tackle on Breakers second-rower Ethan Hyde.
Sharks coach Ben Kirkland admitted it was a "bizarre" decision.
"I've never seen a bloke sent off for something like that," he said.
"I think it warranted a penalty for sure ... he was late into the tackle, but he didn't hit him from the side, he hit him from behind.
"I understand penalties are there to protect blokes knees, but when you're hitting them from behind they're falling that way anyway."
Ultimately the Sharks inexperience proved costly although they battled hard.
Front rower Mitch Smith was a shining light while teenage centre Oli Nosworthy impressed the coach with his performance.
"Mitch had his best game I've seen him play for two or three years," Kirkland said.
"Oli Nosworthy in the centres is only 18 but starting to grow into a first grader. Defensively they targeted him early but he shut them down every time."
Kirkland conceded time was quickly becoming the enemy in the Sharks quest for a finals berth.
"I think a win is just around the corner for us and hopefully it's sooner rather than later because we're starting to fall down that ladder a bit, but we just need to scrape into the finals."
Meanwhile, Sharks halfback Jared Bruen's hat-trick single-handedly dragged his side back from an 18-0 deficit before they shared the points in a 22-all draw in reserve grade.
Breakers halfback Ben Hyde had a chance to steal the game after the siren with a 47-metre penalty goal attempt which dropped under the crossbar.
The Breakers ladies league tag continued their winning ways with a 24-0 shut out of the Sharks, while Port City claimed an 18-8 win in the under-18s.
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