NRL: Bulldogs take a bite out of the sharks

Dene Halatau's try was the highlight of the first half. Photo / Greg Bowker

Canterbury did just enough to keep their NRL finals hopes alive in holding out a stubborn Cronulla 19-12 at Toyota Stadium on Monday night.

A Trent Hodkinson field goal two minutes from time confirmed a desperately needed two competition points, the Bulldogs now just one win behind eight-placed Newcastle with three rounds remaining.

It was hardly the sort of performance to send a shiver up the spines of this year's genuine title contenders.

The only meaningful contribution of an otherwise forgetful opening half hour was Dene Halatau's fourth minute try, a simple one-on-one miss by Wade Graham costing the Sharks.

From there the Bulldogs couldn't get anything going in attack, while the Sharks - who lost Jayson Bukuya to an ankle injury with his first run of the game - gradually gained in confidence.

Two bombs for noted flyer Nathan Stapleton went unrewarded, as did a desire to go around the Bulldogs defence who seemed to have their measure.

Finally the Sharks changed tack and found Nathan Gardner with an inside ball, the livewire fullback brushing past a flimsy David Stagg effort to lock it up after 34 minutes.

With nothing but pride on the line, the Sharks charged towards the break but a cruel blow just before the siren punctured their momentum.

Cronulla thought they had Greg Eastwood contained near halfway only for Jeremy Smith to let go of the Kiwi prop's ankle a second too soon.

Eastwood found his feet and offloaded for Ben Barba to race away to make the halftime score 12-6 the dismay of the Sharks and their fans.

While the game may have have been short on skill, it certainly had plenty of venom as evidenced by a Frank Pritchard bellringer on former Penrith teammate Graham just after the restart that landed Pritchard on report for a high shot.

Graham was still groggy when a promising play ended with his pass heading over the sideline.

The Bulldogs who edged ahead when Steve Turner connected on a penalty goal after a Chad Townsend leg pull.

Out by more than a converted try, the Bulldogs had seemingly put the issue beyond doubt when a precise Hodkinson kick found Turner out wide just after the hour, the winger missing the conversion to offer a glimmer of hope.

That glimmer flickered a little brighter when Sam Tagataese responded three minutes later with a four-pointer of his own, but there was no comeback from the home side with Hodkinson finishing the job.

- AAP