St George Illawarra’s unbeaten run came to an end in the Shire on Sunday with the side falling to Cronulla 42-18.
Jasais Ah Kee – a Minchinbury Jets junior who has progressed through the club’s pathways system with St George – was called up to make his Jersey Flegg debut for the Dragons with skipper Eden Hodges ruled out.
The Dragons’ pack was dealt a pair of blows with Leeroy Weatherall leaving the field early in the contest before Connor Sadler suffered a late head knock.
Match: Sharks v Dragons
Round 14 -
home Team
Sharks
5th Position
away Team
Dragons
1st Position
Venue: Ocean Protect Stadium, Sydney
The first points of the encounter belonged to the Sharks with Ethan Van Gelderen crashing his way over under the sticks off the back of a set restart to make it 6-0.
They were able to extend their lead soon after with Yuri Hromow slicing through a hole down the left-hand corridor to make it a double-digit difference.
The hosts’ hot start persisted with Prestyn Laine-Sietu powering his way over in similar fashion down the left-hand corridor to make it 18-0 a quarter of the way in.
The Dragons were able to produce a try out of nothing to hit back with the Sharks allowing a floating Marley McLaren bomb to bounce.
Toby Rumble stormed through to win the race to the football as it kicked on towards the in-goal and dive over behind to sticks to cut the deficit back to a dozen.
The Dragons conceded a frustrating try prior to the break with Laine-Sietu brushing through some meagre defence to score off a tap 10 metres out and make it 22-6.
A penalty for illegally playing at the kicker handed the Dragons a set on the attack with under a minute on the clock and they took full advantage with Jackson Cahill-Smith crafting a grubber for a chasing Sadler to score as the siren sounded.
Cronulla struck first on the other side of the break with Richard Whalebone diving over in the left-hand corner off a well-run shift to push the lead back beyond a pair of converted tries.
Despite several opportunities, the Dragons were unable to eat into the lead with the Sharks instead pushing further ahead courtesy of an aerial try to centre Nikora Williams.
Sadler, whose defensive intent and strong work with ball in hand had proved a welcome boost for the Red V throughout the afternoon, was unable to finish the contest following a heavy collision.
Hromow sliced through to find his second of the afternoon for Cronulla and ensure that they would storm home to a key win.
Rumble snagged a late one for the Red V off the back of a Zachariah Nachar intercept to lighten the scoreline up ever so slightly, but the match’s final say belonged to the hosts with Pharrell Gray crossing as time expired.
