The inaugural clash between Cronulla JRL and Panthers Juniors for the Luke Lewis Cup took place on Saturday 8 June at Corea Oval, in front of a large crowd of enthusiastic supporters for both teams.
The playing surface was in remarkable shape given recent heavy rains, and the teams responded accordingly to out on a very entertaining spectacle.
It was the Panthers who came out fast and physical, pinning the CJRL Sharks in the half for much of the opening 20 minutes. During this time they grabbed three tries to take a commanding 18-0 lead and looked set to dominate the game.
The Sharks finally managed to get some quality field position as the Panthers early onslaught waned, posting tries to centre Callum Tutauha and a second to winger Marco Tetevano as the home crowd rallied behind the Sharks. A brilliant conversion from the sideline of the Tetevano try by interchange forward Jordan Hollis had the Sharks supporters roaring, and they threw plenty at the Panthers in the leadup to halftime but couldn’t get closer than the 18-10 scoreline at the break.
The early stages of the second half promised plenty for the Sharks who narrowly missed some scoring opportunities before the Panthers found their early game mojo and posted several more tries to take control again, before the Sharks finished the scoring with a late try to centre Samson Mairi to make the final score 36-14.
Man of the match was Panthers backrower Alex Myles. The Sharks were best served by hooker Josh Taylor-Myles, centre Samson Mairi and fullback Tom Carr.
Click on the link below to view the full gallery of images from the game thanks to Cronulla JRL Photographer - Adam Wrightson.
Full Gallery: https://photos.app.goo.gl/1LrKSKyuC2jXC2z48
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