After half an hour you would have thought there was no way Cronulla could lose this game.
14-0 in front, a near gale behind them and playing with the verve and swagger at home that made them premiers two seasons ago.
But, the brave Saints came marching home.
St George Illawarra launched a stunning second half fightback to down bitter local rivals Cronulla 20-16 at Southern Cross Group Stadium on Thursday night.
It was the classic cliche – a game of two halves. Cronulla were near perfect in the first. The hosts enjoyed 65 per cent of possession and completed 20 of their 21 sets. They took the lead through a Chad Townsend penalty goal before they were finally rewarded for their quick start when Jayson Bukuya strolled between Tariq Sims and Paul Vaughan to score next to the posts.
The Sharks extended their lead to 14-0 when Sosaia Feki touched down in the corner after Matt Moylan had hit him with a perfect cut out pass out of dummy half close to the line.
St George Illawarra had barely set foot inside Cronulla’s 20-metre zone but, despite the Sharks’ dominance, found themselves back in the match six minutes before the break. Widdop hung a kick up for Nene Macdonald to leap high above Valentine Holmes – shunted to the wing to accommodate Josh Dugan at fullback – to then somehow touch down centimetres inside the touch in-goal line.
Cronulla, who had looked to be making the most of the strong breeze at their backs, were suddenly in a match. And as good as they were in the first, they were as poor in the second half.
Six minutes after the break and the Dragons had cut the deficit to four on the back of a bizarre try. Ben Hunt almost missed the ball when trying to grubber into the in-goal. The ball fortunately bounced up to Tyson Frizell who raced 20 metres to score under the posts.
The Sharks went close to extending their lead 10 minutes later when Dugan looked to crash over in the corner, only to lose the ball before grounding it. And St George Illawarra would make them pay when Euan Aitken stretched out shortly after to score in the corner, with Widdop’s sideline conversion putting the Dragons in front.
But not for long. An Andrew Fifita knock on from a Wade Graham pass gifted possession back to the Dragons. With St George Illawarra attacking Cronulla’s line, Matt Dufty floated across field before firing a pass into the arms of Feki who raced almost 70 metres before being dragged down. Jason Nightingale was sent to the sin bin after stopping Feki from playing the ball quickly, with the penalty goal allowing Townsend to level the scores at 16-all.
But just as one team grabbed the ascendancy, momentum swung again. This time Moylan dropped a swirling kick-off, putting the Dragons on the attack. Aaron Gray and then Fifita made more errors, compounded by a penalty for offside which allowed Widdop to take back the lead with a penalty goal with 11 minutes to play.
It was error upon error in the second half for the Sharks, this time Dugan put Cronulla’s kick-off out on the full. The Dragons marched down field again, with Widdop putting them 20-16 in front with another penalty goal.
That brought Sharks coach Shane Flanagan down to the sideline and his side responded. They had the chance to steal victory five minutes from full time when Kurt Capewell rose highest to take a Townsend kick but Moylan, who would have scored under the posts, was unable to catch the pass.
It would be their last chance as the Dragons held on to secure a memorable win – and the Monty Porter Cup – in the shire for the second season in a row.
Leader Scoreboard
St George Illawarra Dragons 20 (Nene Macdonald, Tyson Frizell, Euan Aitken tries. Gareth Widdop four goals)
defeated
Cronulla Sharks 16 (Jayson Bukuya, Sosaia Feki tries. Chad Townsend four goals)
at Southern Cross Group Stadium
Crowd: 13,517
Leader man of the match: Tyson Frizell (Dragons)
