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Sharks bite late to come from behind against Tigers

Paul Gallen remains one of the NRL's most powerful players. (AAP Image/Craig Golding)
Roar Guru
17th June, 2017
6

The Cronulla Sharks have stunned the Wests Tigers with two tries in the last seven minutes to steal a two-point win at Shark Park.

The start of the game was disjointed, as the two sides combined for five errors within the first six minutes.

However, the Sharks caught the first break of the game, as Ava Semanufagai was sent to the sin-bin in the seventh minute for a professional foul.

And they probably should have scored with the man advantage, as Gerard Beale blew a certain try off an Edrick Lee kick.

The Sharks opened the scoring through Kurt Capewell, but it wasn’t without some controversy.

A Townsend pass in the lead-up was suspect at best, but the referees allowed it as Capewell scored his first NRL try off an Edrick Lee offload.

The Tigers would work their way back into the contest, scoring their first try off a bit of brilliance from a first gamer.

Matthew Eisenhuth came up with a classic flat ball near the line to send Elijah Taylor crashing over just beside the posts.

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They would score again before halftime as well, as Esan Marsters crashed over some weak marker defence to score.

Two conversions from Tuimoala Lolohea saw the Tigers take an eight-point lead into the break.

Despite most expecting the Sharks to dominate coming out of the sheds, it was the Tigers that extended their lead after halftime.

Jacob Liddle crashed over from dummy-half, and the Tigers looked set to continue on with the job.

The game become an arm-wrestle for the next 20 minutes or so, and it was only broken by a beautiful set play from the Sharks.

Daniel Mortimer, Junior Paulo and Siosaia Feki combined up the middle, before a supporting Chad Townsend snapped up a try.

Luke Brooks actually managed to run down Townsend, but he went for the one-on-one strip which allowed Townsend to get up and plant the ball.

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Despite this try, the Tigers looked in control, and a late try seemed to seal the game.

Malakai Watene-Zelezniak scored in the corner off a beautiful cut out ball from Kevin Naiqama, and Lolohea would convert for an eight-point lead with 10 minutes remaining.

But it wasn’t to be for the Tigers, as both Edrick Lee and Jayson Bukuya added tries to snatch the game.

The final try came off a deft little kick from Mortimer, and the final kickoff was taken by Edrick Lee to end the game.

The win sees the Sharks maintain their Top 4 spot, while the Tigers have sunk to the foot of the ladder with the loss.

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