Round 4 North Queensland Cowboys v Cronulla Sharks

SATURDAY

North Queensland Cowboys v Cronulla Sharks at Dairy Farmers Stadium, 8:30pm (local). #NRLNQLCRO

COWBOYS: Matthew Bowen, Ashley Graham, Brent Tate, Kane Linnett, Antonio Winterstein, Johnathan Thurston (c), Ray Thompson, Matthew Scott (c), Aaron Payne, James Tamou, Gavin Cooper, Glenn Hall, Dallas Johnson. Interchange (from): James Segeyaro, Joel Riethmuller, Ashton Sims, Jason Taumalolo, Ricky Thorby

SHARKS: Nathan Gardner, Stewart Mills, Ben Pomeroy, Colin Best, John Williams, Todd Carney, Jeff Robson, Bryce Gibbs, Isaac De Gois, Ben Ross, Jeremy Smith, Jayson Bukuya, Paul Gallen. Interchange (from): Andrew Fifita, Wade Graham, John Morris, Anthony Tupou, Mark Taufua, Sam Tagataese

I think this may be the game of the round, plenty of points to be scored with the Cowboys getting home

Sharks surprise victors over Cowboys

AAP Sun, Mar 25, 2012 - 12:12 AM

The Cronulla Sharks have come from behind twice to stun the North Queensland Cowboys 20-14 at Dairy Farmers Stadium.

Coming off the back of a win against reigning champions Manly on Monday night, the Sharks scored late tries in both halves to claim their first win against the Cowboys since 2010.

Trailing by eight points in the dying minutes of the first half, the Sharks scored two tries in two minutes to take a surprise 14-10 lead into the break.

Half-back Jeff Robson's grubber took a fortunate deflection off the goal post padding to bamboozle Johnathan Thurston and allow Andrew Fifita to score.

It was a Thurston dropped ball a minute later that allowed the Sharks to take the lead with Ben Pomeroy getting across the line.

Fullback Matt Bowen, who was the attacking linchpin for the Cowboys as co-captain Thurston struggled to find his kicking range, set up first half tries for Gavin Cooper and Ash Graham and scored one himself from dummy half on 43 minutes to put the sides on an even pegging.

But Paul Gallen, who had been in the thick of the action all night, put the Sharks back into the lead on 72 minutes when he spun past three defenders to give Cronulla back to back wins.

The Sharks will be sweating on the fitness of fullback Nathan Gardner, who was helped off the field after being accidentally knocked unconscious by a Brent Tate knee on 42 minutes, and missed the remainder of the match.

The Cowboys will also have some worry with Bowen, whose kicking game and magic from dummy half kept his side in the match, was put on report for a late hit on Gardner in the first half.

Cronulla coach Shane Flanagan praised his side's valiant defensive effort, keeping the Cowboys offence to just three tries.

"I'm not quite sure how many play the balls the Cowboys had in our 20m line, but to defend a team with Johnathan Thurston and Matt Bowen that many times is a tough thing to do," he said.

"Outstanding effort, courage, kept turning up for each other and some big tackles there to be made."

The Sharks mentor expected Gardner to be okay, after he was helped off the field with a concussion.

"He got that first hit (the tackle Bowen was put on report for) and hurt his neck and he wasn't moving great after that and then got a knock to the head but he'll be okay," Flanagan said.

A frustrated Neil Henry said his side didn't deserve the win after spurning so many opportunities.

"Very disappointing and the other side full credit to Cronulla," Henry said.

"We certainly had enough possession to score points, and that's something we're normally able to do, but we weren't able to get across the line."