Sharks down Cowboys in Townsville

Match snapshot

• After scoring a hat-trick of tries in last weekend's defeat of Melbourne, Jesse Ramien picked up where he left off to opening the scoring in just the fourth minute.
• The try followed a penalty against Cowboys winger Kyle Feldt for a late tackle on Cronulla opposite Ronaldo Mulitalo and the Sharks quickly spread the ball  before Ramien bumped off three defenders to score.

• Ramien then grabbed his second try in the 20th minute from close range when he pirouetted out of dummy half following a Matt Moylan break and forced his way through the attempted tackles of Ben Hampton and Luciano Leilua.
• The Cowboys responded just four minutes later when Leilua shovelled the ball to centre Peta Hiku for Feldt to score in the corner and Chad Townsend converted against his former club. 

• A Nicho Hynes penalty goal put the Sharks ahead 14-6 but the home team continued to attack Cronulla's line and after a series of infringements hooker Blayke Brailey was sent to the sin-bin for holding down Tom Gilbert.
• The Cowboys immediately made them pay, with Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow slicing between Ramien and Hynes before beating Will Kennedy on an angled run off a Townsend pass to reduce the deficit to 14-12 at halftime.

• A disallowed Jason Taumalolo try midway through the second half after Reece Robson was ruled to have obstruct Braden Hamlin-Uele from making a tackle was as close as the Cowboys came to scoring in the second half.
• The Sharks went down the other end on the ensuing set of six before Teig Wilton pounced on an in-goal fumble by Hampton from a Hynes grubber and a 70th minute Sione Katoa try sealed the win.

Play of the game

The Sharks were hanging on for dear life midway through the second half after Jason Taumalolo charged his way over the line only to have the try disallowed for an obstruction.

From the penalty Cronulla travelled the length of the field and second-rower Teig Wilton scored off a Nicho Hynes grubber after Ben Hampton fumbled in-goal to give the visitors a 20-12 lead.

What they said

"The difference tonight was that they defended their line better than we did. We just gave up four soft tries that should have been stopped. Take the adjudicating out of it, our 'D' isn't where it should be against a good team," - Cowboys coach Todd Payten.

"We had to do large periods of goal line defence - and I was happy with that. I thought physically they were a little bit more committed than us and put the pressure on us physically - I was was not happy with that part of the game. But we just kept turning up and finding a way in goal line 'D'. I was really happy with the eight minutes after halftime when Blayke was in the bin. They had scored prior to that and there was potential to get rattled. I was really pleased with that because if that goes pear shaped it sets up the trend for the rest of the half," - Sharks coach Craig Fitzgibbon.

What's next

After five consecutive wins, the Sharks face their biggest test when they travel to Penrith next Friday night to take on the top-of-the-table Panthers, while the Cowboys host Wests Tigers on Sunday.

North Queensland coach Todd Payten will welcome back Origin stars Valentine Holmes, Jeremiah Nanai and Tom Dearden after the trio were rested following their roles in Queensland's series deciding victory.

Cronulla centre Siosifa Talakai was a late withdrawal from the match in Townsville after picking up a shoulder injury playing for NSW in Origin but coach Craig Fitzgibbon expects him to be available for the Panthers clash.

However, there are concerns about winger Sione Katoa after he injured his collarbone diving over to score the final try of the match.