After rubbish first half Cronulla manage late comeback for ugly win Sharks pull it out of fire
WHEN it comes to winning ugly and winning tough, no team in the NRL can do it quite like Cronulla.
After a horrible first- half performance when they only managed to complete at 50 per cent, the premiers fought back late to deny St George Illawarra in a gripping clash.
On a night not without controversy, the Sharks finished with three tries to two to keep their place in the top four while the 18- 14 defeat delivered the Dragons their third straight loss.
And just when they looked down for the count, Cronulla came up with the winning try in the dying minutes that was as fluky as it was crucial.
Trailing 14- 12 with eight minutes left, Sosaia Feki touched down for his second try after his earlier four- pointer off a cruel forward pass call.
Chad Townsend threw a Hail Mary ball from dummy half on the last play that bounced off Tariq Sims for Jack Bird to pick up the scraps to send Feki crashing over.
The hosts had earlier looked home when Paul Vaughan put fellow prop Russell Packer over for his first try in Dragons colours to give them a 14- 12 lead heading into the final quarter.
Dragons fans will be looking back on a forward pass that handed Feki his first try that in the end proved the difference.
Without injured stars Gareth Widdop and Josh Dugan, the Dragons produced a brave effort after also losing Euan Aitken to a hamstring injury midway through the first half. In a game hardly anyone gave them a hope, the Dragons went to the break with a welldeserved 8- 6 lead despite Aitken’s exit forcing a complete reshuffle of their backline.
Although it was one try apiece with a Tim Lafai penalty goal splitting the teams, the Sharks were their own worst enemies. They only managed to complete eight of 16 sets with a stack of simple and crucial errors letting the Dragons off the hook.
The opening quarter was as tough as it was entertaining with the only points coming via Lafai’s boot in the 20th minute.
Valentine Holmes was dangerous every time he went near the ball and it was legwork that led to the opening try when Ricky Leutele crossed down Aitken’s side of the field in the 23rd minute.
But some clever dummy half work from Cameron McInnes held up the Cronulla defence just long enough for a barnstorming Vaughan four minutes later.
With two defenders clinging to him, Vaughan stretched out for a one- handed try. By halftime Vaughan had chalked up 108m, and by fulltime that was up to 191m, easily the most of any forward on the park as he pushed his NSW claims.