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82 mins ago | Rhys Sullivan
Cronulla-Sutherland have given Newcastle a 36-4 hiding with a masterful second half performance making it fifteen straight wins at Southern Cross Group Stadium in front of almost 17,000 fans.
The battle of first v last was always expected to be a done-deal, and while the Sharks did achieve a comfortable win, Newcastle made it tricky in the first forty, keeping the Sharks to just ten points in the first half and challenging the Cronulla line on several occasion.
The hosts opened the scoring after five minutes through Jack Bird who crossed in the corner, and took it to 10-0 in the 26th minute. The Knights, despite dominating possession for most of the half, failed to trouble the scoreboard before halftime.
But that was where it ended for Newcastle - Ben Barba started what was ultimately an avalanche of Sharks tries in the second forty, in just the 2nd minute after the resumption of play. Gerard Beale and Jack Bird were on the board by the 55 minute mark to extend the lead to 24-0. The only thing preventing the hosts from posting a bigger scoreline was poor goalkicking from Chad Townsend.
A Valentine Holmes double - celebrating his birthday, no less - saw the Sharks streak further ahead either side of the hour-mark, and sit comfortably in the lead at 32-0.
Newcastle managed to stem the flow late on with a freakish try to Nathan Ross, not converted by Trent Hodkinson, before Ben Barba scored in the shadows of fulltime to complete a savaging day out for the Sharks' backs.
Next week the Sharks face a more formidable opponent in the Titans at Cbus Super Stadium on Monday, while the Knights are off to Brookvale for a showdown with Manly on Sunday afternoon.
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