THERE wasn’t a better community bonding scene than last Saturday when five-thousand sports fans jammed into Mollymook Oval on the South Coast NSW to scream and roar as the Cronulla Sharks defeated Canterbury Bulldogs 34-30 in local rugby league’s best day of the year.

Brilliantly hosted by the premier Milton-Bulldogs club, no stone was left unturned to cater for all the young and older spectators alike as both the Sharks and Bulldogs inturn provided the major entertainment with one-hundred and sixty minutes of exciting rugby league that had the bumper crowd screaming with approval.

Riding on the back from a string of early penalties, the Sharkies were soon on the scoring board when former Kiwi international Tevita Latu and a sharp outside passing sortie involving former Test halfback Brett Kimmorley and pivot Adam Dykes saw second row forward Reece Williams loom up in support to crash over after only three minutes of play.

Three minutes later, Sharks pivot Dykes once again executed the once fabled cut-out pass to find goal-kicking winger Luke Covell flying over wide out untouched, and with Covell adding the conversion the Sharks quickly grabbed a 10-nil lead before lock Tony Grimaldi and Queensland State of Origin hopeful Nate Myles combined to send winger Darren Albert across which Covell converted for the Sharks to lead 16-0.

Finally after two serious runs by former Test centre Phil Bailey and scrum halfback Brent Sherwin a mighty pass inside saw centre Cameron Phelps crash over near the posts which Sherwin easily converted before the Sharks answered with a converted try involving replacement pivot Greg Bird and winger Luke Covell.

Just before halftime, two fine tries were witnessed when Bulldog winger Namila Davui darted over for his first of three tries then another sharp passage of play involving rake forward Corey Hughes and the lock Dallas McIlwain saw replacement centre Trent Cutler zoom over untouched to narrow the score 22-14 at the break.

For the huge crowd, the second half provided five exciting tries that had the crowd on its feet for the last forty- five minutes. The Dogs came out barking when Sherwin cleverly held-up his pass for several cunning metres before finding powerhouse backrower Reni Maitua who simply crashed through two maybe tacklers to score.

The game then started to see-saw as the Sharks replied with a try from winger Toshio Laisani and another Covell extra before the Dogs came back with Davui’s leaping second try for the Sharks to lead narrowly at 28-24.

The last remaining six minutes were thrilling as new recruit Ben Ross topped off a mighty trial to roar up field on a angled run that found Kimmorley in support who quickly despatched winger Albert for his second try and as Covell converted at 34-24 the trial seemed over.

However, Bulldog pivot Holdsworth had other ideas and after a short burst from front rower Chris Armit, the Dogs were in again when winger Davui dived over wide out before Holdsworth closed the Doggies account at 34-30 to conclude a great days entertainment and well worth the entry fee.

Earlier, the Sharks were victorious in the Harry Flegg under 20 years trial by defeating the Bulldogs 24-20 in an exciting performance with a total of nine tries being scored.

After light rain, Bulldog tries were scored by Gearin, Afamasaga, Vaefaga, Ayoub and Judge with the Sharks adding four-pointers from Gordon, Tafu, Kerr, Ropeta and Fletcher with former local Bulldog Gary Warburton easily winning the man of the match award for the Canterbury Bulldogs with another promising performance.