Last gasp heroics not enough as Dolphins escape with win over Sharks

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Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks v Dolphins

After an opening period where both teams fired body shots, the Dolphins broke the game open when Kenny Bromwich gave Max Plath a golden offload to open the scoring. After that it became the Kodi Nikorima show, with the five-eighth recording try assists to Herbie Farnworth, Jack Bostock and Jake Averillo in quick succession to set up a 22-0 lead.

But the Sharks fought back, first scoring through a powerful carry from Royce Hunt. Then Briton Nikora powered his way past Isaiya Katoa to cut the lead back to 10 points. The Dolphins had one more chance before the break but couldn't capitalise, and the teams went in at 22-12.

The Sharks continued the second half where they finished the first, and tries to Ronaldo Mulitalo and Will Kennedy suddenly have them a 24-22 lead. They were dominating possession and looked like they would continue their trend of poor first halves leading to comeback wins.

But cometh the hour, cometh the Hammer. Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow caught a kick on his own 10 metre line, ran back towards his goal line in a bid to shake off Braydon Trindall, and then proceeded to burn every single Cronulla player in a 100 metre sprint to the line. The Dolphins took back the lead, which was pushed out to 30-24 after a Jamayne Isaako penalty goal.

But the Sharks refused to quit, and in the last play of the game they pushed the ball from sideline to sideline which led to Katoa finding space and scoring to bring the game to two points on the siren. But alas, Nicho Hynes' conversion attempt stayed too far to the right, and the Dolphins emerged with their first ever win in Sydney in the clubs history.

The win is the Dolphins' 8th, as many as they had in 2023. Meanwhile it's a 3rd loss in 4 games for the Sharks as they now threaten to slide down the table.