DHL Western Province fought hard throughout, but went down 31-23 in their Carling Currie Cup coastal clash against the Hollywoodbets Sharks XV at DHL Stadium on Saturday.

DHL Western Province opened the scoring when Jurie Matthee converted his second shot at goal, having had a go from wide near the halfway line early-on.

The visitors responded with three tries as flank Tino Mavesere, centre Jurenzo Julius and No.8 Nicholas Hatton all crossed the whitewash.

The home side kept pushing and were rewarded when centre Kyle Smith picked up a loose ball in the 22 to score just before the break and reduce the half-time deficit to 21-10.

They were first to score in the second half as well, with Matthee kicking a penalty just after the break and he followed that up with another on 65 minutes to capitalise on the territorial dominance his side enjoyed in the second half.

That brought them back within five, but the visitors responded with a fourth try, scored by wing Eduan Keyter, to give them some breathing room.

DHL Western Province dug deep and came up with a second try as prop Vernon Matongo burst through to score, but the Durban side had the final say as flyhalf Lionel Cronje kicked a drop-goal to secure the eight-point win.

The scorers:

For DHL WP:
Tries: Smith, Matongo
Cons: Matthee 2
Pens: Matthee 3

For Hollywoodbets Sharks XV:
Tries: Mavasere, Julius, Hatton, Keyter
Cons: Cronje 4
DG: Cronje

DHL Western Province: 15 Luke Burger, 14 Courtnall Skosan, 13 Gino Cupido, 12 Kyle Smith, 11 Joel Leotlela, 10 Jurie Matthee, 9 Dewaldt Duvenage, 8 Willie Engelbrecht (captain), 7 Louw Nel, 6 Paul de Villiers, 5 Andre Goedhals, 4 Enos Ndiao, 3 Zachary Porthen, 2 Scarra Ntubeni, 1 Veronon Matongo.
Replacements: 16 JJ Kotze, 17 Mhleli Khuzwayo, 18 Corne Weilbach, 19 Hendre Stassen, 20 Sibusiso Sangweni, 21 Divan Fuller, 22 Imad Khan, 23 Ulrich Wahl.