Cronulla Sharks came from behind to beat Canberra Raiders 24-16 at GIO Stadium.
Canberra took an early lead. Valentine Holmes left a grubber kick but the ball didn’t travel dead allowing Nick Cotric to score.
Holmes made up for his error when he ran 80 metres off a kick chase to level the scores.
After Cronulla took two points through Townsend, Blake Austin nudged Canberra ahead but injured his ankle in the process of scoring. Croker kicked two penalties before half-time to make the scores 16-8.
Cronulla pressed during the opening stages of the second half and were rewarded when Jack Williams scored on debut off a James Segeyaro kick.
The Sharks took the lead when Joseph Paulo fed Sosaia Feki with 13 minutes to go.
Both sides were pushing for a try to win the game but both sides bombed try attempts. Especially Andrew Fifita who recreated his drop in the World Cup Semi-Final with the line begging.
The Sharks finally sealed it when Segeyaro intercepted an offload and fed Holmes who wasn’t to be stopped.
Raiders: Wighton, Cotric, Croker, Leilua, Rapana, Austin, Sezer, Soliola, Havili, Boyd, Tapine, Whitehead, Papalii; Interchanges: Hingano, Bateman, Gubb, Lui
Tries: Cotric, Austin; Goals: Croker 4
Sharks: Holmes, Feki, Ramien, Leutele, Lee, Moylan, Townsend, Fifita, Brailey, Prior, Capewell, Paulo, Seumanufagai; Interchanges: Segeyaro, Williams, Dillon, Uele
Tries: Holmes 2, Williams, Feki; Goals: Townsend 4
Full match reports of all this weekend’s NRL games will feature in Monday’s League Express.
