Barba stars as Sharks cut loose in Canberra

v BYE

A Man of the Match effort from Ben Barba has seen Cronulla dominate Canberra 40-16 in front of 12,890 fans at GIO Stadium.

Starring with two tries and an assist, the fullback did his representative aspirations no harm, as the Sharks crossed for seven tries to record their fourth straight win.

With both sides well placed inside the top eight heading into the match, the Sharks looked most likely early on.

Having come up with a mistake in a try-scoring position earlier, Ben Barba made amends by pouncing on a Michael Ennis grubber in the ninth minute to give the visitors opening points.

Gaining momentum, Cronulla doubled their advantage ten minutes later as Jack Bird crashed over out wide, following a fortuitous call by the bunker to overrule a knock-on providing the Sharks with an opportunity to capitalise.

With the Sharks seemingly in control of the match, a poor 40/20 attempt by Chad Townsend shifted the momentum in favour of the Raiders, however the home side struggled to capitalise on countless chances, as Cronulla headed into the halftime break up by 12.

Wasting little time to assert their dominance in the second half, tries to Jayson Bukuya (41st minute) and Barba (46th minute) saw the visitors well in control, up by 24-0.

Following Kurt Baptiste's injection into the match, the Raiders threatened a comeback with two quick tries to the interchange utility and a solo effort by Jordan Rapana, narrowing the deficit to 24-10, however it proved to be the home sides only solace in an otherwise disappointing performance.

Further tries to Valentine Holmes (61st minute), Matt Prior (75th minute) and James Maloney (78th minute) set up a big finish for the Sharks, while Raiders playmaker Aidan Sezer crossed for a late consolation effort as Cronulla ran out 40-16 victors.

While the Sharks showed their attacking prowess throughout the match, Canberra failed to respond after a poor showing last week against Parramatta. Unable to capitalise on numerous opportunities in the first half, the grit and tenacity the Raiders built their early season wins upon was severely lacking during the match.

Next week the Raiders host Wests Tigers at GIO Stadium on Saturday night, while Cronulla return home to tackle Penrith on Sunday afternoon.