Sharks Golden Point win sinks ill-disciplined Bunnies

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Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks v South Sydney Rabbitohs

Both sides traded powerful tries by their respective big men to send this top of the table clash into Golden Point before an ugly high tackle by George Burgess gave the Sharks the opportunity they needed to win the game.

Souths dominated field position and possession for the bulk of the game but it was the Sharks who maximised their possession vastly better.

Souths opened the scoring in the 4th minute when Latrell Mitchell kicked a penalty goal. The Bunnies extended their lead in the 11th minute after a glut of possession. They sent the ball through the hands to the left side, finding Alex Johnston who does what he does better than anyone else, finding the line for a try. Mitchell converted from the sideline to give the Bunnies an 8 point lead.

In the 19th minute the Sharks got their first full set inside the Rabbitohs red zone. Late in the set they sent the ball right onto Connor Tracey, who shrugged under a cover tackle, stayed in the field of play and scored in the corner. Nicho Hynes converted from touch.

Hynes levelled the scores in the 33rd minute when he landed a penalty goal. Then, with less than 3 minutes left in the half, Cronulla took the lead when Hynes kicked to the left side where Ronaldo Mulitalo leapt exceptionally high, caught the ball cleanly and scored a stunning try! Hynes added the extras and at halftime, Cronulla lead 14-8.

A fumbled Cody Walker grubber by Tracey allowed Mitchell to score a converted try 3 minutes after halftime. The Sharks went from constantly being on the back foot started to take charge, helped by a lot of ill-discipline and poor decision making by Souths in attack. In the 67th minute Cameron McInnes was caught with the ball 5 metres from the Souths line, but managed to offload to the flat-footed Andrew Fifita, who pushed off Cam Murray and then barged through three defenders before reaching out to score a brilliant try. Hynes converted from almost in front to regain the lead.

With just 2 minutes remaining in the game, Tevita Taola stormed onto a crash ball and burrowed down, just managing to get the ball onto a piece of white grass to score a powerful try. Mitchell added the extras from almost in front to level the scores.

The first 5 minutes of Golden Point saw Matt Moylan and Latrell Mitchell fail to win the game with 2 attempts at field goals each.

The second half of Golden Point looked like it might produce a win for Souths after Tom Burgess made a big bust through the middle, getting Souths deep inside the Sharks half. Mitchell though failed to kick a field goal with his third attempt.

Within a minute, Mulitalo found space out wide before he was hit high in an ugly tackle by Burgess. Referee Gerard Sutton had no option but to send Burgess off. Cronulla moved deep into the Bunnies half before Hynes slotted a field goal and got the Sharks a hard earned and well deserved v