In easily one of the greatest games of the season, Port Kembla saved their best to last and in the process made sure Mark Simon was given the perfect send off in his final first grade game for the club.

The Sharks have now lost their past two matches and weren’t aided by constant mistakes and conceding penalties in their own territory.

Shellharbour will now look to sharpen up their game when they take on the Kiama Knights next weekend in the qualifying final.

The visitors fired out of the blocks early as Jacob Scard was assisted by a magnificent cross field kick from captain/coach James Storer and the Blacks raced to an early 4-nil lead.

Port Kembla worked their way out of their own half and were rewarded with their excellent defence as Mitchell Rosser slotted a crucial penalty goal and extended their lead to 6-nil.

After Jaime Manukonga and Michael McKinley were both prevented from getting over the try line, Matt Carroll muscled his way across the white chalk for a vital try for the hosts before he added the extra two points to lock the scores up at 6-all.

On the back of a few quick dummy-half runs, Mitchell Rosser shrugged off a few defenders from close proximity for his converted effort and at the break Port Kembla led 12-6.

Mark Simon produced some magic on the halfway line with a clever chip kick over the Sharks defence which paved the way for James Storer to claim the try of the game.

Rosser landed his conversion to give his side a commanding 18-6 lead.

Matt Carroll played a pivotal role for Shellharbour in the second period as he threw a high flying cut out ball to Jaime Manukonga who scored on the western touchline.

Carroll nailed his sideline conversion as the Sharks trailed by 18-12.

When a possible Shellharbour comeback was on the cards, the Blacks forced a few errors in enemy territory as a hard running Jowasa Drodrolagi was too hard to stop from close range.

Rosser converted and Port Kembla led 24-12.

The Sharks hit back straight away as Ryan McCracken dived over adjacent to the uprights for a converted try.

Shellharbour trailed the Blacks by 24-18 and the crowd was set for grandstand finish.

In the last five minutes, Matt Carroll made an excellent 50 metre break off the back of a scrum, but his pass couldn’t find hand as Port Kembla held on by the skin of their teeth and claimed a 24-18 victory.

Peni Botiki, James Storer, Mitchell Rosser, Jowasa Drodrolagi and Mark Simon were outstanding for Port Kembla while Matt Carroll, Brad Chapman, Hans Schuster, Jesse Dee and Jye Brooker never stopped trying for the Sharks.