Shellharbour showed no hangover from the big loss to minor premiers Gerringong in the final round of the regular season and will now go on to face Jamberoo in another do-or-die match next week.

The Sharks ran in three tries in each half in the win, spearheaded by a hat-trick to back-rower Nathan Cooper.  

The match got off to a dream start for the Sharks when Kiama turned the ball over on their own line.

Centre Kurt Field got on the outside of his man from the scrum win and opened the scoring.

Matt Carroll’s conversion gave the Sharks an early 6-nil lead.

That lead was doubled in short order when a bust by Danny Sartori put the home side on the attack again and Harold Snell crashed over off a short ball from Hans Schuster.

Carroll’s second conversion pushed the lead out to 12-nil.

Shellharbour seemed well in control at that point until Tom Atkins and Dylan Morris combined to bring the Kiama supporters to their feet.

Atkins found some lazy defenders on the blindside and broke through before linking up with Morris who raced away to score.

Atkins’ conversion bought the lead back to 12-6.

Just as it looked like Kiama were getting their way back into the match, some ill-discipline presented Shellharbour with another prime attacking opportunity.

A run of penalties put Shellharbour deep in Kiama territory and they capitalised when Cooper powered over for his first of the day for a 16-12 Sharks lead.

After Cooper’s try possession swung back to Kiama and they managed to peg back Shellharbour’s lead once again.

Josh Toohey took advantage of quick play the ball and cut through the Shellharbour line before finding Atkins in support who dived over under the posts.

The Kiama fullback converted his own try to bring the score to 16-12, which would stand until the half-time break.

The second half started with Kiama dominating possession but seemed to lack the organization needed to crack the Sharks’ defence.

After weathering the early onslaught and then losing captain Schuster to injury, the Sharks managed to extend their lead.

A deft grubber from Dylan McGregor popped up for Ian Catania and the Shellharbour centre touched down on the right fringe.

Carroll’s third conversion put the lead out to 22-12 after 15 minutes of play in the half.

The scoreline would stand like that for another 10 minutes before Shellharbour quickly put the game to bed.

With just over 15 minutes left, Cooper carried a number of Kiama defenders over the line as he grabbed his second try of the day. 

Carroll added another conversion for a 28-12 lead.

The backrower then did the damage again with nine minutes remaining to complete his hat-trick and Carroll’s fifth conversion put the result to rest at 34-12.

A late penalty goal to Carroll rounded out the score at 36-12.

For Shellharbour, Cooper, McGregor and Carroll all had strong games, while Atkins, Kieran Poole and Matt Clarke were Kiama’s best.