Despite a late fightback by the Manly Sea Eagles, the Cronulla Sharks have claimed a rare 20-14 win at 4 Pines Park
Result
Cronulla Sharks 20
Tries: Royce Hunt (5), Sione Katoa (30), Jesse Ramien (47)
Goals: Nicho Hynes 4 (7, 19, 31, 49)
Manly Sea Eagles 14
Tries: Reuben Garrick (62), Lachlan Croker (72)
Goals: Reuben Garrick 3 (40, 63, 74)
Report
The Cronulla Sharks have recorded a club-record third straight victory over the Manly Sea Eagles, coming away from 4 Pines Park with a nail-biting 20-14 in front of 10,358 spectators on Sunday afternoon.
Nicho Hynes did his hopes of a State of Origin debut no harm with a strong performance, while the right edge of Briton Nikora, Jesse Ramien and Sione Katoa all starred as the Sharks dominated much of the contest, before allowing the Sea Eagles back into the contest in the final 20 minutes.
It was an ominous start from the Sharks, scoring a simple try in the 6th minute when Royce Hunt barrelled past Haumole Olakau’atu from close range. Hynes converted to take an early 6-0 advantage.
Hynes extended the margin to eight in the 20th minute after Kelma Tuilagi was penalised for holding back the kick chase.
Despite the weight of possession, Cronulla were unable to find another way through. In the end it came down to Sione Katoa, who managed to keep a penalty kick in play, finishing the set with a right-foot step and a try. Hynes converted to extend the lead to 14-0.
Reuben Garrick got Manly on the board after the half time siren with a long-range penalty goal, cutting the deficit to 12 at the break.
The Sharks started the second half in similar fashion to the first, scoring within eight minutes when Briton Nikora raced past Tom Trbojevic on the wing after smart play by Katoa, before linking up with Jesse Ramien to score their third of the afternoon. Hynes converted, pushing the score out to 20-2.
A mountain of possession on Cronulla’s line eventually resulted in a try for the Sea Eagles, despite a number of trysaving tackles. Quick hands from Tom and Ben Trbojevic finally set up Garrick for a four-pointer in his 100th game after nearly ten minutes of non-stop attack. Garrick converted his own try from the sideline to reduce the scoreline to 20-8 with 17 minutes to play.
When fancy footwork from Daly Cherry-Evans set up Lachlan Croker, the Sea Eagles reduced the deficit to a converted try with five minutes remaining.
With rain starting to fall, Ramien was penalised for deliberately baulking Tom Trbojevic while chasing a kick. They turned over possession with a meek Trbojevic kick and, despite one last hail Mary after the siren, were unable to force golden point.
Making the defeat worse for Manly was the loss of Josh Aloiai with a dislocated shoulder during the first half.
PLAYER OF THE YEAR POINTS
Embed from Getty Images3 – Briton Nikora (Sharks)
2 – Sione Katoa (Sharks)
1 – Nicho Hynes (Sharks)
