The Sharks raced to a 12-nil lead courtesy of tries to Justin Zutt and Des Miti and goals to captain-coach Greg Badullovich, but Bega replied with two tries of their own, and the crowd strapped themselves in for an entertaining game.

The Sharks led by two at the break and maintained the edge on the Roosters in the second half.

“With some hard running forwards in Justin Zutt and Fabian Baroukus we were able to maintain the upper hand most of the game,” Badullovich said.

“We led at half time and knew we had to finish the job in the second half and some solid defence from us saw Bega constantly handing over possession, and on occasions we were able to capitalise and put the points on the board.”

Badullovich said the Sharks won the play-the-ball, having worked on it intensively at training.

“When your forwards are going forward and you can establish a roll on it makes the backs’ job a lot easier,” he said.

“The boys fought to the end and were rewarded. A healthy home crowd also helped motivate the Sharks when needed.”

For Moruya, tries were scored by Justin Zutt (two), Billy Elliott, Tom Lolback, Chris Gatehouse and Des Miti, while Badullovich kicked five goals and a field goal.

In the earlier game, the Sharks’ under 18s took the field against their Roosters opponents with only the bare minimum of 13 players, and under 16s players PJ Cullen and Jack Bettridge had to make up the bench.

They were unable to stop the fast and skilful Bega team running away with a 26-8 win.

The Sharks put it to the Roosters in the first half, and only trailed 12-4 at half time, a score which could have been reversed if Moruya hadn’t made a couple of costly mistakes.

Unfortunately, Moruya handed the ball over to the Roosters early in the second half, and Bega punished them with a try out wide.

The Sharks showed they hadn’t given up by mounting some impressive attacking raids, one of which resulted in a try to Shaun Reid.

The Bega response was decisive, and two Roosters tries sealed the result.

Sharks coach Robert Jay was pleased with his teams tenacity.

“To Moruya’s credit, they never gave up,” he said.

“Matt Evans once again had a blinder along with Tom Hilyear, Paddy Maguire, Shane Davies and Aaron Murphy. Dylan Hunt was great in the backline along with Jai Dunn and Steve Hilyear, and PJ Cullen’s first game at fullback was outstanding.”

The Sharks under 18s are hoping to be at full strength for their match against Eden this Sunday.