[Source: NRL]

The Sharks have made it five on the trot after grinding out a 20-10 victory over arch-rivals the Dragons at PointsBet Stadium on Sunday.

With coach Shane Flanagan returning to Shark Park for the first time as opposition coach, the Dragons were up for the contest, leading 10-6 at half-time, however couldn’t match the class of Cronulla who have now won their past eight derby clashes.

An early penalty against St George Illawarra centre Jack Bird for infringing the ruck handed the Sharks a repeat set and Oregon Kaufusi capitalised when he crashed over the line from close range to open the scoring for the home side.

Both sides then traded errors and sets before the Dragons hit back in the 27th minute with Ben Hunt stamping his authority, creating an overlap on the short side for Mikaele Ravalawa to score.

Just seconds before the half time sounded, St George Illawarra went ahead, once again beating defenders down the right edge to hand Ravalawa a double and take a 10-6 lead into the break.

Cronulla raced out of the blocks in the second half and after some strong goal line defence by Tyrell Sloan denied Nicho Hynes an early opportunity, the home side had another opportunity two minutes later and Siosifa Talakai barged his way through Hunt and Lomax to put his side in front 12-10.

With legs beginning to tire on the wet track, the match turned into an arm wrestle again before Sione Katoa found himself in space and took the ball 30 metres downfield.

Then fan favourite Tom Hazelton carried momentum through to the next play, powering over defenders from close range to give Cronulla some breathing room and ‘Tommy…Tommy’ echoed across Shark Park.