Sharks second half dominance ruins Titans' homecoming

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Gold Coast Titans v Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks

A five try second half haul for the Sharks has seen them move into the NRL top 8 following their 40-10 victory over the Gold Coast Titans at Cbus Super Stadium on the Gold Coast.

The opening half of action may have looked tight on the scoreboard but it was a story of missed opportunities for the Sharks.

The first opportunity came for the Titans when the Titans were able to get over the line first through Corey Thompson after Tyrone Peachey set up the play cleaning up an Aaron Woods charge-down. The excitement for the Titans was short-lived with the bunker picking up a rather clear knock-on in the lead up by Peachey.

Cronulla were the first team to add the points to the board when Braden Hamlin-Uele was able to get his way over the line with a hard run and used his momentum to get into the in-goal. The Sharks continued to dominate but the Titans were able to go up the other end of the field when Shaun Johnson's pass failed to hit the mark and Corey Thompson was able to race away to score and Ash Taylor was able to level the scores.

The Sharks coughed up chances both before and after the first Titans try but they were able to re-take the lead when Andrew Fifita was able to get over the line off a good pass back inside from Wade Graham.

Chances continued to mount for the Sharks but they couldn't take advantage and it was the Titans who scored after blowing their own chances. The Titans second try came when Anthony Don was able to get over the line following a misread in defence by the Sharks outside backs. The conversion was waved away and the Sharks held a two-point margin at the break.

The second half was a one-act affair for the visitors with the Sharkies running in five unanswered tries during the half. Cronulla only took two minutes to extend their lead when Briton Nikora was able to run an angled line across the grain of the defensive line to score.

Gold Coast fans were given a glimmer of hope when the Titans got close to the line and then put pressure on the Sharks but either lost the ball or were penalised in defence giving the Sharks an easy out of their own zone.

Blayke Brailey was the next recipient of Shaun Johnson's skill when the latter was able to run at the Titans defensive line before finding Brailey who was able to score. The Sharks went out to a 24-10 lead. The Titans defensive line was in all sorts as the Sharks halves ran the ball and it was Chad Townsend who was next to be able to take advantage when he was able to get through to score.

The Titans couldn't break the momentum and the Sharks were able to get on the board a further two times when Royce Hunt spun his way to the line to score his first NRL try whilst Bryson Goodwin added to his extensive tally in the final 5 minutes to give the Sharks a 40-10 victory.

Next weekend, The Sharks host the Panthers on Saturday afternoon whilst the Titans take on the Warriors.