Cronulla were denied a seemingly certain match-winning try in regular time before Valentine Holmes snapped a field goal in golden point extra time to seal a 21-20 win over the Raiders in Canberra.
Canberra led 20-18 in the dying stages before Andrew Fifita crashed over under the posts to score from a Michael Ennis grubber kick.
Fifita appeared to ground the ball and, despite the on-field referees awarding a try, the video referee chalked off the four-pointer for a knock on.
Cronulla were instead given a penalty after the video referee ruled Fifita was tackled without the ball.
Michael Gordon converted the penalty goal to level the scores at 20-all and send the game to golden point.
Canberra had a chance to win the game in extra time but Blake Austin's attempted field goal missed to the right.
The Sharks rolled down field thanks to a pair of strong runs from Sosaia Feki.
Holmes only needed one chance and, like he did in round 10 against the Gold Coast, sealed an epic golden point win for Cronulla with a neatly taken field goal.
It was another huge moment for the impressive 19-year-old.
"It feels amazing," he said.
"The boys played so well for the whole 80 minutes. Just to get that in a grinding match was unbelievable.
"It was a bit scrappy there, we just had to stick to our systems and go back to that.
"We got the two points in the end."
Earlier, Cronulla got off to a strong start with tries to Holmes and Ricky Leutele.
The Raiders hit back midway through the first half when Edrick Lee touched down.
The Sharks led 12-4 at half-time but the Raiders were back to within two points just after the break when Queensland forward Josh Papalii crashed over.
Andrew Fifita extended Cronulla's lead to 18-10 before the Raiders produced a late rally.
Lee grabbed his second try with 15 minutes to play before Canberra hooker Josh Hodgson appeared to pull off the play of the day with a one-on-on steal on Gordon.
Jarrod Croker kicked a penalty goal three plays later to level the score at 18-all with 10 minutes remaining.
Canberra took the lead in the 74th minute when Cronulla were penalised for a questionable strip 20 metres out from their own line, with Croker again successful with a penalty goal.
That led to Cronulla setting up what appeared to be the match-winning try.
Thankfully for the Sharks they were able to earn a deserved two points in extra time despite the controversy.
The win was Cronulla's fifth from their last six games and enough for them to climb back into the top eight.
Cronulla also had to do it without fullback Ben Barba who was missing with a knee injury.
It was also a game to remember for the Sharks as captain Paul Gallen (250th), Jeff Robson (150th) and Leutele (50th) reached career games milestones.
Leader Scoreboard
Cronulla Sharks 21 (V Holmes, R Leutele, A Fifita tries. M Gordon 4 goals. V Holmes field goal)
defeated
Canberra Raiders 20 (E Lee 2, J Papalii tries. J Croker 4 goals)
in golden point extra time.
At GIO Stadium, Canberra.
Crowd: 9,853.
Leader man of the match: Andrew Fifita (Cronulla)
Sharks' next three: Bulldogs (away), Warriors (away), Cowboys (home).
