[Source: NRL]

The Sharks moved to a share of top spot on the NRL ladder with a 26-6 win over the Knights in Coffs Harbour on Saturday afternoon.

With Nicho Hynes and Will Kennedy in slashing form the Sharks racked up a seventh win of the season to join the Panthers, Rabbitohs and Broncos on 16 competition points.

The Sharks struck first in the seventh minute when Kennedy sliced through the Knights’ left-side defence to grab his 11th try of the season.

Five minutes later the Sharks looked to have a second when Hynes finished off brilliant lead-up work by Connor Tracey but the try was ruled out for obstruction by Dale Finucane.

The Knights came close to opening their account in the 14th minute when Tracey fumbled a Tyson Gamble grubber but Tyson Frizell was unable to ground the ball.

Knights skipper Kalyn Ponga got his team on the board midway through the half when he took the final pass from Bradman Best to glide over and scores were locked up at 6-6.

Sharks winger Ronaldo Mulitalo grabbed his 11th try of the season with 13 minutes remaining in the half, finishing off the slick passing of Matt Moylan and Kennedy inside him.

With 90 seconds to play in the half Knights fullback Lachlan Miller was bundled into touch deep in his own territory to hand the Sharks a chance but a forward pass brought them unstuck.

Five minutes into the second half the Sharks went further ahead when Tracey got to the outside of Dane Gagai on the 20-metre line and scooted clear to make it 18-6 with Hynes’ conversion.

A line break by Hynes in the 50th minute spelled danger again for the Knights but Best was able to track back and force a mistake with a strong tackle.

An offside penalty against Knights halfback Jackson Hastings gave Hynes an easy shot at goal and the Sharks extended their lead to 20-6 with 23 minutes to play.

With the Knights looking to mount some pressure a bizarre error by Ponga saw them come up empty, the skipper believing it was the last tackle and a turnover when Newcastle actually had one play left.

A penalty against Daniel Saifiti for a late tackle gave the Sharks the field position to ice the victory through big man Royce Hunt, who got through Leo Thompson’s tackle and plunged over for his second try in two weeks. Hynes knocked over the conversion for a 20-point lead.

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