Cronulla entertain to go back to back

After upsetting defending premiers St. George Illawarra, Cronulla came out to Penrith on the high of victory to come out and upset the home team and disappoint the Penrith crowd who came out only to see their side get smashed 44 points to 12.

From the early passages, the best efforts of both teams were aimed at giving the visitors victory. Cronulla opened their account in the fifth minute with a try to captain Paul Gallen.

Penrith did hit back in the 17th minute with a try to David Simmons, converted by Michael Gordon, but that was all the points Penrith could offer in the first half. They did however make a plethora of errors inviting a rampaging Cronulla side to derail them.

Cronulla proceeded to score 3 more times before the half finished, 2 to Albert Kelly in the 20th and 26th minutes and a try and to Gardner in the 30th. John Williams converted perfectly in the first half, helped by tries scored under the posts to take the Sharks into half time 24 points to 6.

Cronulla continued their dominance in the second half, first points of the second forty came in the 5th minute to Collin best of the hands of skipper Gallen, Williams continued his perfect goal kicking, to ensure immense difficulty for an inept Penrith.

It only took another 5 minutes for more points to come out of Cronulla, these to Johnny Mannah, of good dummy half work from Cordoba, Williams converted another and the game looked well out of reach from there.

Errors and penalties from both sides dominated the next few sequences of play, before Cronulla invited Penrith to open their second half account with what in the 64th minute could only be a consolation try to Lachlan Coote, Gordon's conversion reduced the deficit to four converted tries, but that was it for the home side.

The game was put far beyond reach in the 67th minute when Jennings kicked his seventh goal of the match nailing a penalty goal to put Cronulla 26 points ahead.  All that was left for Cronulla to do was pass 40 points and they did in the 77th minute with Gallen putting Jeremy Smith in to score.

John Williams completed his perfect goal kicking game with 8 goals from 8 attempts, to give the Sharks a mammoth 44 - 12 victory over Penrith, to kick their season into gear on the back of their victory over the Dragons last round, pushing them into the top 8.

Match Details
Penrith Panthers 12 were defeated by Cronulla Sutherland Sharks 44
National Rugby League - Round 3 - Saturday March 26, 2011 5:30pm
Venue: Centrebet Stadium Penrith
Referee: Jared Maxwell and Phil Haines
Video Referee: Bernard Sutton
Touch Judges: Jason Walsh, Adam Gee
Crowd: 9,275
Halftime: Penrith Panthers 6 Cronulla Sutherland Sharks 24

Leagueunlimited.com players of the match:
3 Points - Paul Gallen (1 Try)
2 Points - Nathan Gardner (1 Try)
1 Point - Albert Kelly (2 Tries)

PENRITH PANTHERS (12)
Tries: David Simmons, Lachlan Coote
Conversions: Michael Gordon (2/2)

CRONULLA SUTHERLAND SHARKS (44)
Tries: Paul Gallen, Colin Best, Jeremy Smith, Johnny Mannah, Nathan Gardner, Albert Kelly (2)
Conversions: John Williams (7/7)
Penalty Goals: John Williams (1/1)

LeagueUnlimited.com Live Commentary Hello and welcome to Centrebet Stadium Penrith for this round three clash between two sides who opened their 2011 accounts last round. Penrith who had a big win against Parramatta after opening their season with a huge loss at the hands of Newcastle take on the team who caused the upset of last round, the Cronulla Sharks who took down defending premiers St George Illawarra on Monday.
In the Toyota Cup this afternoon, despite a late surge scoring the last four tries, Cronulla were defeated 36-32 in a high scoring affair.
TEAM NEWS:
For the Panthers, Timana Tahu will start the match in jumper 18, with Adrian Purtell being pushed to the bench and Sandor Earl being scrapped.
For the Sharks, just one change with John Mannah in jumper 18 coming onto the bench in place of Dean Collis.
1 min: The whistle blows, Sharks kick off and we are underway.
2 min: Strong opening set from Penrith, and a good kick forces Sharks to start this set from their ten.
3 min: Sharks open their attack equally well, Gallen makes a half break, but Kelly's bomb was beautifully marked in goal by Simmons, to give them a 20 metre tap.
3 min: PENALTY against Tahu for an incorrect play the ball, his first touch of the season earns him a penalty and gives Sharks a good attacking opportunity about 35 metres out.
5 min: TRY
TRY to the Sharks, quick hands Morris to Snowden to Smith onto Paul Gallen to score. Conversion from John Williams successful.
Cronulla Sutherland Sharks 6-0
7 min: PENALTY against Penrith for hands around the ball, not doing themselves any favours here.
8 min: Petro goes for an intercept, but ruled not to have touched it, so the tackle count won't get restarted and Coote fields a Kelly grubber very well.
9 min: Jennings fumbles on his own 20 metre line, but Maxwell rules.
10 min: PENALTY for obstruction against Penrith gets Sharks out of danger.
11 min: Wright knocks on to gift the ball to Penrith.
12 min: Fantastic bomb diffusion by John Williams, but looks to be an ugly head clash between teammates Coote and Jennings in there - Lachlan Coote on his back receiving attention.
14 min: PENALTY against Cronulla for being inside the ten, gives Penrith an attacking opportunity from 25 out.
16 min: Crossfield bomb from Luke Walsh and we're going upstairs for a possible Panthers try.
17 min: TRY
TRY to David Simmons, who collects it from the John Williams failure to get hands around it. Difficult conversion for Michael Gordon, but he makes no mistake.
6 all
18 min: Luke Walsh loses the ball from the restart to give Cronulla a great attacking opportunity.
19 min: A shocking Cronulla pass is picked up by Gordon, who is bundled into touch to give Cronulla a scrum feed and another set of six.
21 min: TRY
TRY to Cronulla, Tupou from the sideline to Morris, who gets it onto Albert Kelly who dummies and scores under the back dot. Easy conversion for Williams.
Cronulla Sutherland Sharks 12-6
23 min: Civoneceva walks up the tunnel, came up groggy, updates as I hear them.
26 min: TRY
TRY to Cronulla, Jennings creates an overlap against his own team standing on the wrong side of the field, Pommerway gets rid of would be tacklers and gets the ball onto Albert Kelly to score his second. Conversion from Williams successful.
Cronulla Sutherland Sharks 18-6
27 min: PENALTY against Penrith for a high tackle right after the kick off. Not doing themselves any favours after these kick offs.
30 min: TRY
TRY to the Sharks all over this Penrith defence, Gardner feigns to the right, moves to the left, through the defence to score under the black dot. Another easy conversion for Williams.
Cronulla Sutherland Sharks 24-6
31 min: Coote goes high to field a bomb and drops it to give Cronulla great field position.
32 min: PENALTY against Penrith who are now inviting the Sharks to put this game out of their reach.
33 min: Tahu saves the day for Penrith fielding the ball in goal to give them a bit of a reprieve and a 20 metre tap.
34 min: Penrith complete their first set in a while, but Sharks with the ball again, look by far the most threatening side.
35 min: A half break gets the ball onto Jennings who plays the ball to noone at dummy half - really sloppy from Penrith gifting the ball to Cronulla.
37 min: Penrith get a penalty around halfway, let's see if they can do anythign with it.
38 min: Gardner cleans up a certain Penrith try, punching it into an opposition player and a line drop out.
39 min: Penrith threatening the line, but a difficult pass from Waterhouse, and Jennings knocks on.
40 min: Penrith are given a reprieve by the half time hooter, they head into the break down 24 points to 6.
41 min: The whistle blows to signal game back on.
42 min: Gardner looks for a 40/20, but it bounces off a Penrith player and is pounced on by Tahu and Penrith sprint onto the attack in the early passages of the second half.
43 min: Fortunate intercept from Kelly saves a certain Penrith try or repeat set.
44 min: Great boot from Kelly forces Coote to work for it, Coote then loses the ball in the tackle and hands Cronulla a wonderful attacking opportunity.
44 min: Gardner appears to have hurt his right shoulder.
46 min: TRY
TRY to thr Sharks. Centrefield play Morris onto Gallen lines it up to Best who reaches out to score. And Williams continues his perfect game with the boot.

Luke Walsh helped off the field with a left arm injury.
Cronulla Sutherland Sharks 30-6
47 min: Play the ball penalty against Penrith, it's all wih Cronulla here.
48 min: Tupou loses posession trying to keep it alive, to offer a little respite to Penrith.
48 min: Purtell hit hard and loses the ball.
49 min: Gardner appears to have been hit high, but the whistle blows for a forward pass against Cronulla. Replays award the penalty to Cronulla for two infringements. Civoneceva on report for a late high challenge. Luke Walsh pain is in the dressing sheds getting treated for pains in the left arm shoulder.
51 min: TRY
TRY to Cronulla. Good quick play the ball from Cordoba who gets the ball onto Mannah who steams onto it to score. Williams converts another one.
Cronulla Sutherland Sharks 36-6
53 min: Penrith really struggling out there, getting steamrolled by Cronulla's attack and really struggling in attack without their playmaker.
55 min: Gallen knocks on to give Penrith something to work with in the way of field position.
56 min: Lewis knoks a ball out of Garner's hands to give Penrith a repeat set in great field position, right on the attack here, now let's see if they can do anything with it.
57 min: Knock on ruled against Cronulla, Penrith with a lot of ball here, but the need points.
58 min: Waterhouse loses the ball to end Penrith's run to the line, and Penrith concede a penalty on top.
59 min: Gardner drops it cold to invite Penrith backtoward the Cronulla line.
60 min: Loose pass and Sharks come up with the ball again. Penrith putting this game out of their own reach.
61 min: Luke Lewis down injured, this game is getting from worse to worse for Penrith. After about a minute on the ground he does get up to play the ball.
61 min: Penrith hand over the ball on the last play 40 metres out.
62 min: Tupou knocks on to offer an opportunity to Penrith.
63 min: PENALTY for a high shot against Cronulla, could be a scoring opportunity here.
64 min: TRY
TRY to Penrit. Lewis runs the play to the left side, kept alive, to Purtell inside, hands it to Plum who offloads onto Coote to score. Conversion successful.
Cronulla Sutherland Sharks 36-12
65 min: Jennings knocks on from the restart.
67 min: PENALTY GOAL
PENALTY against Penrith for offside, and Cronulla opt for the two points.
Cronulla Sutherland Sharks 38-12
68 min: PENALTY to the Sharks, Coote kicks off and it goes out on the full.
69 min: Wade Graham makes a similar mistake for Cronulla failing to get the penalty out on the fly.
70 min: PENALTY to Penrith, so another chance for them here. May be too late for the game, but some consolation points on offer here.
VIDEO REFEREE possible Penrith TRY.
71 min: NO TRY, Lewis ruled to have knocked on before the ball reaches the in goal, scrum feed to Cronulla.
72 min: Cronulla hand the ball back to Penrith with a mistake of their own.
73 min: Michael Gordon stops a certain Cronulla try and Cronulla are forced to hand the ball over.
75 min: Kelly puts a grubber in, which Coote knocks on in his in goal, good opportunity for Cronulla to pass 40 points here.
77 min: TRY
TRY to Cronulla. Gallen gets a short ball onto Jeremy Smith who takes three defenders with him to run in and score. John Williams now 8 from 8 with the boot.
Cronulla Sutherland Sharks 44-12
VIDEO REFEREE checking on a possible Cronulla try.
78 min: NO TRY, Wade Graham drops it short. Great lead up work from Gardner who carved Penrith up through the middle, but it came to nothing with hte Graham knock on.
80 min: The hooter blows and Cronulla go two in a row, taking this one out 44 points to 12.