THE Gerringong Lions have returned to the Group Seven winners' circle with a strong 28-12 win against the Shellharbour Sharks at Michael Cronin Oval on Saturday.
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Bolstered by the return of NSW Country representative Corey Mulhall, along with a number of other big names, the Lions seemed their composed selves compared to the outfit that lost to Albion Park-Oak Flats in the previous round.
For the visitors, the loss spoiled the celebration of skipper Matt Carroll's 100th first grade game for the club and means the Sharks are left with only one win and a draw after five rounds.
After weathering some early pressure from the Sharks, it was the Lions who opened the scoring through Alexander Weir.
Nathan Ford attracted the Shellharbour defenders out of dummy half and held the ball up perfectly for the prop to crash over.
Jake Taylor converted and the Lions led 6-nil in the fifth minute.
The Sharks managed to work their way back into the game and after 15 minutes hit back.
A pin-point kick from Carroll was plucked from the air by back-rower Tyson Simpson to the right of the posts.
Carroll slotted the conversion and the scores were level at 6-all.
The Sharks were dealt a blow after the Simpson try, when centre Matt Forsyth came off second best after some heavy contact with Hamish Holland and had to be taken from the field.
Following an extended drinks break, as Forsyth was being attended to, it was the Sharks who extended their lead.
It was Carroll's boot again that caused problems for the Lions as a towering bomb caused confusion between Denver Ford and Toby Gumley-Quine.
Sharks' winger Declan Morrissy grabbed the loose ball and crossed out wide.
Carroll, who recently broke the record to become the competition's top point-scorer in first grade history, knocked over the conversion and the Sharks lead 12-6 after 20 minutes.
Just as it looked like the Sharks had grabbed the ascendancy, it was the Lions' turn for a somewhat fortuitous try.
As Shellharbour looked to work the ball out of their end after the Morrissy try, Lions centre Danny Wedd made a great read on a long ball, taking the intercept and running away to score under the posts.
Taylor's conversion locked the scores up at 12-all.
Both sides produced some enterprising play after Wedd's try, but their defence was to the same standard and neither side managed to find a way over the line until the Lions struck a blow on the stroke of half-time.
Pivot Isaac Russell produced a perfect cross-field kick for Denver Ford and the Gerringong winger took the ball uncontested to score in the corner and give his side a 16-12 lead.
The home side extended that lead soon after the break thanks to some second-phase play on the Sharks line.
Holland had the Shellharbour defence back-pedalling and found Rixon Russell in support.
Jake Taylor converted the halfback's try and the Lions held a 22-12 lead with five gone in the second half.
The Lions handed the Sharks the perfect chance to hit back when they spilled the ensuing kick-off, but the Lions' defence stood firm.
The Lions wasted little time in turning defence into attack and after rolling upfield earned a repeat set off the boot of Dylan Farrell.
The Lions won a penalty in the following set and the pressure proved too much for the Sharks' defence.
Some clever work from Rixon Russell and Taylor opened up some space through the middle for Gumley-Quine and the Gerringong speedster crossed.
Taylor added his fourth conversion and the Lions led 28-12 with half an hour to play.
While points came relatively easy in the first 50 minutes, that all came to an end after Gumley-Quine's try and the two sides played out the final stages with defence dominating and the Lions holding on for the win.
In the victory, Gumley-Quine, Rixon Russell, Denver Ford and Nathan Ford were all standouts, as Carroll, Ryan James, Simpson and Brad Chapman did all they could for the visitors - whose mounting injury toll saw them finish the game with 12 players.
The Lions, who are now 3-1 in 2021, next travel to the Kiama Showground on Sunday to battle local rivals the Knights, while Shellharbour hosts Nowra-Bomaderry at Ron Costello Oval on Saturday.
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