Sharks surge continues as brave Warriors fall

Cronulla have staged a second half comeback to down the Warriors 18-14 at Mt Smart Stadium today in front of 12,481 fans.

It was all the Warriors early - Konrad Hurrell marking his return to the side and getting straight onto the scoreboard gave the home side a 4-0 lead, and against all expectations they held onto that lead for the remainder of the half before extending it through captain Simon Mannering not long before the halftime siren.

Missing Shaun Johnson's guidance at half, Tuimoala Lolohea ably guided the hosts around the park in the first 40, producing several great set-endings together with Chad Townsend to force repeat sets out of the Sharks in the first 20 minutes. Despite the lack of points the Warriors looked strong.

Coming out of halftime leading 10-0, the Warriors began to slowly allow the visitors back into the contest - first with Sam Tagataese breaking away up the middle before finding Jack Bird, then onto LeagueUnlimited.com's Man of the Match Valentine Holmes who used his aerial ability to put it down in the corner.

Sensing a tight contest, the Warriors followed this up by converting a penalty goal to establish a converted-try lead, but it lasted just a few short minutes before some scintillating individual brilliance saw Holmes bag his second try in just ten minutes. Gerard Beale popped a sneaky outside offload to Holmes near halfway before little Val broke away, chipped over Sam Tomkins and won the race to the ball for himself to ultimately put his side on level terms after the subsequent conversion from Michael Gordon.

With scores all tied up, the Warriors used their next penalty to put another two points on the board inside the last fifteen minutes, but the Sharks had the answer to that as well, with Ricky Leutele carrying defenders across the line in the corner to give the visitors a two point lead - which became four with Gordon's conversion.

The final minutes of the game became a tense contest with plenty of Warriors' momentum but no points, despite a Simon Mannering charge at the line which saw Tuimoala Lolohea claim a try - which was ultimately denied by the men upstairs.

Next week it's the Warriors' third straight home game, but this time in Wellington. They host St. George Illawarra at Westpac Stadium on Saturday, while the Sharks are at home to premiership heavyweights North Queensland on the same evening.

Match Details

New Zealand Warriors 14 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 18
Venue: Mt Smart Stadium
Crowd: 12481
Halftime Score: New Zealand Warriors 10 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 0

NEW ZEALAND WARRIORS (14)
Tries: Konrad Hurrell, Simon Mannering
Field Goals:
Conversions: Tuimoala Lolohea (1/2)
Penalty Goals: Tuimoala Lolohea (2/2)

CRONULLA-SUTHERLAND SHARKS (18)
Tries: Valentine Holmes (2), Ricky Leutele
Field Goals:
Conversions: Michael Gordon (3/3)
Penalty Goals:

LeagueUnlimited.com Players of the Match:

3 points - Valentine Holmes
2 points - Sam Tagataese
1 point - Simon Mannering

LeagueUnlimited.com Live Commentary

1: We're underway at Mt Smart!

6: TRY NEW ZEALAND WARRIORS
Scored by Konrad Hurrell. Kick to come.
Hurrell is back - boy is he! Koni scores for the hosts to take an early lead.

7: UNSUCCESSFUL CONVERSION NEW ZEALAND WARRIORS
Conversion attempt by Tuimoala Lolohea unsuccessful.
Tui's got duties with Johnson's omission, his first attempt today hits the post. No goal.

12: GALLEN! So close but Warriors' prop Jacob Lillyman hauls him in just short of the line!

16: ICYMI: Both sides are 1-17 today, no late changes from the Tuesday lineups. At the moment we have the Warriors on the attack after earning repeat sets.

22: Repeat set after repeat set here - the Warriors piling on the pressure but no extra points to show just yet. Another drop-out here.

27: A Warriors error eventually brings their repeated attempts at the line undone. The Sharks have now gone up the other end and through some slippery turf have been able to trap Sam Tomkins in goal for their own repeat set. Dropout Warriors.

28: Not the best finish to their set, Cronulla just roll it dead on the kick and NZ will get a 20m restart.

29: The Sharks compound the issue by conceding a penalty.

33: VIDEO REF | Possible Ken Maumalo no try for the Warriors. Checking everything from a contest to a knock on to grounding.

33: It went up no try, it comes back that way. Handover Sharks.

35: UNFORCED ERROR CRONULLA-SUTHERLAND SHARKS
Michael Gordon makes an unforced error.
Warriors will get another chance here. Gordon just can't go with the ball after an offload.

37: TRY NEW ZEALAND WARRIORS
Scored by Simon Mannering. Kick to come.
Mannering wins the race to a Siliva Havili grubber! Beautiful!

38: SUCCESSFUL CONVERSION NEW ZEALAND WARRIORS
Conversion attempt by Tuimoala Lolohea successful.
Easier conversion for Lolohea this time. He makes the lead ten going into halftime.

39: UNFORCED ERROR CRONULLA-SUTHERLAND SHARKS
Michael Ennis makes an unforced error.
Ennis tries a short kickoff... gets to the ball first...and bottles it. Warriors scrum on their own 40m with less than a minute to the break.

40: That will do us. Halftime at Mt Smart - Warriors dominant but only lead by ten.

43: We're back up and running at Mt Smart with just a Hurrell line break and a Warriors forward pass to speak of in the first few minutes.

45: TRY CRONULLA-SUTHERLAND SHARKS
Scored by Valentine Holmes. Kick to come.
Tagataese splits the Warriors up the middle! He gets it to Bird who finds Valentine Holmes in support - he dives over out wide!

46: SUCCESSFUL CONVERSION CRONULLA-SUTHERLAND SHARKS
Conversion attempt by Michael Gordon successful.
Gordon with a brilliant sideline conversion.

47: UNFORCED ERROR CRONULLA-SUTHERLAND SHARKS
Sam Tagataese makes an unforced error.
Hero to villain in the space of two minutes - Tagataese botches a Michael Ennis pass.

48: Penalty Warriors and they'll go for two here.

49: SUCCESSFUL PENALTY GOAL NEW ZEALAND WARRIORS
Penalty goal attempt by Tuimoala Lolohea successful.
Lolohea converts the penalty into two points, extending his sides' lead to six.

54: Up and back, Warriors struggling for metres though. Cronulla slowly building.

55: TRY CRONULLA-SUTHERLAND SHARKS
Scored by Valentine Holmes. Kick to come.
DOUBLE! Holmes breaks down the right flank, chips over Tomkins and wins the race to the ball. Individual brilliance!

56: SUCCESSFUL CONVERSION CRONULLA-SUTHERLAND SHARKS
Conversion attempt by Michael Gordon successful.
And just like that, scores are level. Did the Warriors make a mistake kicking for goal?

61: Upstairs for a possible Sharks TRY to Sam Tagataese. Looks like we have an obstruction though, it's overturned and NO TRY.

65: Something out of nothing, Hurrell puts it ahead on the toe and Barba eventually has to bat it dead. Drop-out.

66: Another penalty in striking distance for the Warriors. They'll opt to take a 2 point lead.

66: SUCCESSFUL PENALTY GOAL NEW ZEALAND WARRIORS
Penalty goal attempt by Tuimoala Lolohea successful.
Tui Tui you're fantastic! Adds the two to put the home side ahead.

71: TRY CRONULLA-SUTHERLAND SHARKS
Scored by Ricky Leutele. Kick to come.
Leutele goes for the corner carrying a couple of defenders and GETS THERE! Sharks in front!

72: SUCCESSFUL CONVERSION CRONULLA-SUTHERLAND SHARKS
Conversion attempt by Michael Gordon successful.
First attempt from the other sideline for Gordon, and this one just as good. Cronulla lead by four with 8 minutes to go.

74: Warriors penalised for tackling Barba in the air before he landed.

75: UNFORCED ERROR NEW ZEALAND WARRIORS
Manu Vatuvei makes an unforced error.
Big Manu spills a Sharks high ball, gifting them a repeat set.

76: UNFORCED ERROR CRONULLA-SUTHERLAND SHARKS
Wade Graham makes an unforced error.
Wadey drops it and that's the end of that attack. Warriors with a scrum and 90m to cover to level the scores...

78: Vatuvei breaks through and storms up-field! Warriors attack inside the last three!

79: Townsend kicks it across field, Maumalo is under it but Leutele looks to have taken him out. Gordon has touched it - it's a dropout instead of a 20m! Gallen is FUMING! Controversy at Mt Smart!

79: VIDEO REFEREE - possible NO TRY to the Warriors. Mannering has charged forward, lost it and Lolohea picks it up. Has he scored?

79: It's NO TRY. Sharks scrum with 50 seconds left on their own line.

79: That will do us. It's fulltime and the Sharks are shooting up the ladder!