After absorbing a beating from the powerhouse Castaway Wanderers in the opening half, the Bayside Sharks salvaged some pride in the final 40-minutes of their Canadian Direct Insurance premier rugby match Saturday at South Surrey Athletic Park.

The Sharks fought back with four tries in the second half to earn a bonus point in the standings despite losing by a final count of 52-28.

"They had a Canadian national team standoff, an ex-Canadian scrum-half and a current Canadian fullback and the match-up just wasn't there for us," said Bayside coach David Benoit. "They really took advantage of the fact that we have some younger guys out there. The territory and the possession they got from it were huge for them. They got every bounce and every little mistake we made they made us pay for it."

Trailing 38-0 at the break, the Sharks were determined to battle back in the second half. Bayside reset their goal to earning a bonus point (scoring four tries or losing by less that seven points), then proceeded to make good on their quest.

"They (the Castaways) didn't make any subs or ease up at all, our guys just got mad," Benoit said. "Our pride was being questioned and obviously the guys weren't happy about the way the first 40 minutes went."

In the second half, the Sharks outscored the Island visitors 28-14 while capturing the precious point in the standings. Senirusi Roque led the charge with a pair of tries while Taylor Stogryn scored another. Peter Clifford rounded out the Sharks' scoring with a try and four successful conversions.

The bonus point proved to be a big boost to Bayside as it moved the Sharks into sole possession of sixth place in the eight-team CDI table. Bayside now needs to win next week in Burnaby to secure a spot in the second round of the premier schedule. The top six teams remain at the premier level while the bottom two drop down to division one after next week.

"That bonus point was massive for us," Benoit said. "What happens now is, if we win in Burnaby, we're in. We know we didn't match up well with the Castaways, but we match up well with a lot of the other teams. It all starts with Burnaby though and if we don't beat Burnaby, we don't deserve to be in the next round."