Scrappy, lethargic Bunnies hold out to beat spirited Sharks

A LETHARGIC looking South Sydney held on to beat the Cronulla Sharks at ANZ Stadium last night.

Adam Reynolds

A LETHARGIC looking South Sydney held on to beat the Cronulla Sharks at ANZ Stadium last night, despite a spirited performance from the under-siege visitors.

The Sharks took the field for a second week without suspended coach Shane Flanagan at the helm, but produced an inspiring performance worthy of congratulations from NRL CEO Dave Smith post match, despite the unfavourable14-12 score-line.

"I thought they earned a lot of respect out there. I went round and shook every one of their hands," said Smith.

"They're a really good bunch of guys under difficult circumstances. I feel for them, I fell for their family and I feel for their fans."

Despite scoring the two competition points, Bunnies coach Michael Maguire was disappointed by his team's performance, which was anything but the clinical effort put on against the Roosters in round one.

"Scrappy is the right word," Maguire said.

"Full credit to Cronulla. They frustrated us and we didn't stick to our plan. That allows other teams to eat away at what you're trying to create. We didn't get a chance to play that clinical game. They took that away from us,"

Souths skipper Michael Crocker was equally frustrated by his sides performance.

"We gave them too many opportunities, especially in the first half with our ill-discipline. We've got standards and we weren't up to those. It was a pretty boring game. Luckily we held out."

All of South Sydney's points were orchestrated by home-grown half Adam Reynolds, who set up both of the Bunnies try's with perfectly weighted kicks in to the in goal for Andrew Everingham, and Dylan Farrell. Reynolds converted both try's before slotting a penalty goal on the stroke of half-time to close out the scoring for the Rabbits.

The Bunnies will now travel to Penrith to play the Panthers at Centrebet stadium next Sunday at 3pm.

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