Cronulla’s dismal form at Shark Park continued on Friday night, with the Sharks suffering a 28-10 loss to the Sydney Roosters.
A strong defensive display from the Roosters laid the platform for the 18-point victory as they ran in five tries to two.
It was an important two points with neither of the competition heavyweights wanting to slip to a third defeat in the opening five rounds.
Cronulla were again forced into a late reshuffle of their back line, with Josh Dugan unable to make a comeback from a groin injury. That saw Trent Hodkinson go into the halves with Matt Moylan shifting to fullback.
That lack of continuity in their spine again hurt Cronulla who, despite a glut of possession late in the second half, have now only managed eight tries in their first five matches.
Defensively Cronulla were strong, only giving up one line break in the match. But the Roosters found a way to hang tough without the ball before hurting Cronulla with it, mostly thanks to the boots of Cooper Cronk and the excellent Luke Keary.
The teams traded penalty goals in the first 15 minutes before Ryan Matterson crossed for the first try midway through the half. Sosaia Feki spilled a cross field Cronk kick under pressure from Blake Ferguson, allowing Matterson to pick up the loose ball and score.
The Roosters had a second three minutes later. Keary regained his own charged down grubber kick close to the line and, despite a re-start of the tackle count, put in a second grubber kick across field for Joseph Manu to steam through and touch down.
With the visitors out to a 12-2 lead the Sharks needed to respond quickly. They reduced the deficit just after the half hour mark with a set play, with Matt Moylan finding Valentine Holmes with a cut out pass. Holmes did brilliantly to scoop up the ball on the bounce and race towards the corner, diving to touch down just inside the touch in-goal line under pressure from three Roosters’ defenders.
Moylan had started to inject himself into the match, making a searing line break through the heart of the Roosters’ defence.
James Tedesco gifted Cronulla the chance to level the scores before the break when he made an error on kick return five minutes before half-time. But the Sharks were punished for not making the most of their opportunity, with the Roosters marching down field to extend their lead.
It was an almost identical play to their first try, this time Ferguson leaped highest above Feki to claim Cronk’s cross field kick before passing it back to Matterson almost in one motion for the back-rower to score his second of the night.
The Roosters extended their lead 10 minutes into the second half when the excellent Keary isolated Tedesco against Hodkinson close to the line, allowing the fullback to stroll over.
Things got worse for the Sharks when they lost James Segeyaro to a sickening head knock. The replacement hooker attempted to charge down a Cronk clearing kick, slamming his head into Cronk’s hip. Segeyaro lay motionless before he was eventually helped from the field.
Latrell Mitchell added the resulting penalty goal after Segeyaro’s tackle was ruled dangerous.
Holmes touched down for his second try as the Sharks continued to push late in the half. But the Roosters stood strong, with Reece Robinson adding a late try for the Tri-Colours to complete the scoring.
It doesn’t get any easier for the Sharks who travel to Wollongong next Friday for their second derby clash with competition leaders St George Illawarra.
Leader Scoreboard
Sydney Roosters 28 (Ryan Matterson two, Joseph Manu, James Tedesco, Reece Robinson tries. Latrell Mitchell four goals)
defeated
Cronulla Sharks 10 (Valentine Holmes two tries. Chad Townsend goal)
at Southern Cross Group Stadium
Crowd: 11,855
Leader man of the match: Luke Keary (Roosters)
Sharks’ next three: Dragons (away), Panthers (home), Titans (away)
