Match Summary:

The Cronulla Sharks have thrashed the St George Illawarra Dragons 40-4 at Toyota Park this evening in front of a fantastic Monday night crowd of 19,137.

The game was all one way traffic with Greg Bird, Brett Kearney and Brett Kimmorley all having standout games against their arch rivals.

Cronulla enjoyed over 60% possession and they made the most of it with some clever kicks from Kimmorley paying dividends on several occasions.

Bird in particular had an excellent game and has thrown his hat in the ring for representative honours and on tonight’s performance, he would be hard to keep out.

The match also saw the return of Paul Gallen for the Sharks and he had a solid first up performance.

For the Dragons, only Jason Ryles could be nominated as a player who gave a wholehearted performance but once he left the field with what looked to be corked thigh, the Dragons put the cue in the rack and let the Sharks run riot.

Cronulla Sutherland Sharks 40
Tries: David Simmons, Brett Kearney (3), Ben Pomeroy (2), Fraser Anderson
Goals: Luke Covell (6/7)
St George Illawarra Dragons 4
Tries: Josh Morris
Goals: Wes Naiqama (0/1)

Venue: Toyota Park
Referee: Tony Archer

Live LeagueUnlimited Commentary:

1 min: We are underway for the local derby at Toyota Park

3 min: Dragons get a penalty for a high shot. Both sides off to a good start early on.

6 min: Video ref to check on a possible try to Cronulla. Looks ok from the naked eye with Simmons scoring in the corner off a Kimmorley chip.

6 min: TRY Cronulla Sutherland Sharks
Kimmorley chips to the sideline and Simmons takes a spectacular catch to touchdown in the corner just inside the goal zone. Superb try and handling from Simmons. Conversion attempt by Luke Covell unsuccessful.
Cronulla Sutherland Sharks 4-0

8 min: Brett Kimmorley having a strong game early and has been involved in everything so far.

10 min: TRY St George Illawarra Dragons
Ben Hornby drops in a deft kick behind the Sharks line and Josh Morris was there to pick up the ball and dive over the line to score his first NRL try. Conversion attempt by Wes Naiqama unsuccessful.
4 all

14 min: Sharks attacking the Dragons line and looking sharp.

17 min: Ryles spills the ball to give the Sharks another chance inside the Dragons half.

19 min: Brett Morris throws a forward pass to Ben Hornby ten metres out from his own line.

20 min: Ben Pomeroy spills the ball to blow a certain Sharks try. Saints have just knocked on as welland the Sharks are back on the attack.

21 min: TRY Cronulla Sutherland Sharks
Greg Bird gets a good ball away in traffic and sends Brett Kearney over to score. Bird has been the Sharks best player so far. Very hard to handle in attack and is making plenty of metres with the ball in hand. Conversion attempt by Luke Covell successful.
Cronulla Sutherland Sharks 10-4

25 min: Video ref to adjudicate on another possible try to the Sharks. This will be another try to the Sharks. Saints are self-destructing.

25 min: TRY Cronulla Sutherland Sharks
Ben Pomeroy wrong foots the Dragons defence to score out wide and give the Dragons plenty of headaches. Saints are quickly finding themselves out of their depth against the Sharks. Conversion attempt by Luke Covell successful.
Cronulla Sutherland Sharks 16-4

32 min: Saints lose the ball in their own half again to give the Sharks a sniff leading up to half time. If Saints let the Sharks score, it's a long way back for the Dragons.

36 min: Ben Pomeroy spills the ball again to blow another scoring opportunity for the Sharks. Terrible play from Pomeroy.

40 min: At the half time break, the Dragons are down by 12 points and still very much in the game depsite how the first half transpired. If the Sharks had executed better, the game would effectively be over. The Dragons used up a lot of petrol int eh first half so it remains to be seen if they have the stamina to come back in the second half and record their secnd win for season 2007.

41 min: We are underway in the second half!

41 min: Dragons throw the ball away in the opening set of six inteh second half.

47 min: Greg Bird pulls off a bell ringer on Brett Morris and Morris is one crook boy at the moment. Great one on one hit by Bird.

48 min: TRY Cronulla Sutherland Sharks
Ben Pomeroy ploughs through the Dragons defence to slam the ball down to extend the Sharks lead to three tries as Saints start the second half the way the finished the first, very poorly. Conversion attempt by Luke Covell successful.
Cronulla Sutherland Sharks 22-4

56 min: Wes Naqiama must have had a Diva on his mind, because dropped the ball on his own line to give the Sharks the chance to put the results well and truly beyond doubt.

58 min: We're off to the video ref once again for a possible try to the Sharks.

58 min: TRY Cronulla Sutherland Sharks
Kearney scores adjacent ot the posts off another Kimmorley kick. Hornby dropped it and Kearney was on hand to seal the win for the Sharks, who have been impressive tonight, especially Greg Bird. Conversion attempt by Luke Covell successful.
Cronulla Sutherland Sharks 28-4
63 min: We're off to the video ref for another possible Sharks try. Looks good to me.

63 min: TRY Cronulla Sutherland Sharks
Kearney gets a hat trick against a woeful St George side and the Sharks really start to rub salt into the wound now. Conversion attempt by Luke Covell successful.
Cronulla Sutherland Sharks 34-4
68 min: The Sharks muscle up and push Matt Cooper into touch to show some steel in defence. Very impressive from the Sharks.

70 min: 19,137 have turned up to watch this match. Outstanding crowd for MNF.

76 min: A lot of errors from both sides late in the match with the result in the bag for the Sharks.

77 min: TRY Cronulla Sutherland Sharks
Fraser Anderson scores off a great Kimmorley pass to put the icing on the proverbial cake and the celebrations will start after the Sharks demolition of the Dragons comes to an end. Conversion attempt by Luke Covell successful.
Cronulla Sutherland Sharks 40-4

LeagueUnlimited.com Player of the Match:
3 Points: Greg Bird (Sharks)
2 Points: Brett Kearney (Sharks)
1 Point: Brett Kimmorley (Sharks)

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