Cronulla extended their incredible winning streak to 14 games with a gritty 32-20 win over the Sydney Roosters at Allianz Stadium.
But the Roosters will point to two controversial video referee decisions in the second half that hurt their chances. Cronulla were without prop Andrew Fifita, suspended after State of Origin III while the rest of their Blues quintet backed up.
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Cronulla wins 14th straight match
Cronulla has continued its incredible winning streak, claiming their 14th straight victory after beating the Roosters 32-20.
The Roosters also had Blake Ferguson and Aidan Guerra on deck after representative duty with coach Trent Robinson handing a starting debut to 20-year-old Connor Watson at five-eighth.
Sharks coach Shane Flanagan wasn't impressed with his side's effort.
"We were off our game," he said. "We made some crazy decisions defensively and some crazy decisions offensively.
"It wasn't us but we showed true grit to stick in there and get the points.
"Winning creates that culture. I'm not happy with the way we defended and turned the ball over but you are going to have those days."
Roosters coach Trent Robinson declined to be drawn on the decision to overturn Tupou's try.
"I honestly don't want to go into it. I have said enough already," he said. "It is no use going into it. We conceded 32 points and made some errors that cost us. I thought there was some great attack from us. There were lots of options and lots of play, Connor Watson added quite a bit .
"We had some really good D and some really bad D that cost us points."
The home side got off to the perfect start with a try to Mitch Aubusson before the Sharks had even touched the ball. Gerard Beale dropped a Mitchell Pearce cross-field kick despite being under little pressure, with the ball bouncing into the arms of Aubusson.
But the Sharks hit back immediately after Dylan Napa dropped the ball on the first hit-up from the kick-off to gift Cronulla possession. Slick hands from Chad Townsend and Ben Barba saw Valentine Holmes score in the corner, his 13th try of the season. Another Roosters error, this time putting the kick-off over the dead-ball line on the full, again gave Cronulla good field position and they could have taken the lead from the next play only for Holmes to lose possession as he slid over the line.
From their next set, Pearce put his kick out on the full to again invite the Sharks deep into their territory. The Roosters were made to pay for their sloppy start, with Ferguson forced into holding back Beale as the Sharks centre chased a kick and he was sent to the sin bin for a professional foul.
Five minutes later and the Sharks took the lead, making the most of their man advantage with Jack Bird scoring out wide.
Despite their poor start the Roosters drew level after 26 minutes thanks to a piece of magic from Watson. The Central Coast junior ran at the line before accelerating between Townsend and Bird to score untouched in the corner. Luke Lewis hit back for the Sharks when he strolled over from a delightful set play to give Cronulla a 16-10 half-time lead.
Cronulla extended their advantage to 22-10 eight minutes into the second half when Barba threw a perfect cut-out pass to Sosaia Feki.
They scored the try of the match five minutes later, running the ball on the last from their own half. Beale's chip kick then bounced fortuitously for Townsend who did brilliantly to back up and score.Â
Watson produced a lovely pass to send Dale Copley over before two controversial decisions went against the Roosters.
Latrell Mitchell charged over but the video referee ruled Aubusson obstructed Lewis as Mitchell jinked inside to score before Daniel Tupou was ruled to have not grounded the ball correctly after fielding a cross-field kick.
Tupou did eventually score with nine minutes to go, with Sio Siua Taukeiaho's sideline conversion setting up a grandstand finish.
But Feki scored his second of the match late on to seal another Cronulla win.
with AAP
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