THE Kiama Knights have suffered their second loss of the Group 7 Rugby League season, going down 28-16 to Shellharbour City at Ron Costello Oval.
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Leading 16-12 at half-time it looked like the Knights were on track for their fourth straight win, but the Sharks put together a composed second half to emerge victorious.
The visitors were first to score when Keiran Poole's cut-out pass put Corey Grigg over for a 4-0 Kiama lead, but the Sharks hit back soon after when Jai Dormer burrowed over for a converted try to give his side a two-point lead.
Shellharbour's lead didn't last long, Kiama running in converted tries to Tom Atkins and Poole to afford them a 10-point buffer over the home side.
Just as it looked like the Knights would take the 10-point lead to half-time, Shellharbour fullback Ian Catania raced away for a converted try to bring the score to 16-12 at the break.
It was all Shellharbour in the second half as Kiama's lead quickly evaporated, Harold Snell and Hans Schuster crossing in succession and Bronx Goodwin's two conversions giving the home side a 24-16 advantage.
With 10 minutes to play, the Sharks sealed the game when Dormer sent winger Ben Stratton over.
Meanwhile at Berry Showground, the Berry Magpies came within a whisker of knocking off ladder leaders Warilla-Lake South.
For the first 70 minutes of the game things were going to script, the Gorillas enjoying a comfortable 24-6 lead.
The Gorillas went to half-time ahead 14-6 after tries to Nick Lazarevski, Chad Lisch and Tyson Brown, while Blake Harris-Davis registered the Magpies' lone first half four-pointer.
Jarryd Pepper and Blake Colgan added two quick tries after the break to give the Gorillas what seemed a comfortable lead until Berry mounted their late comeback.
With 10 minutes remaining, the deficit was cut to 12 points when James Dinnie crossed for the Magpies, and it was down to six points when Nathan Benney did the same soon after.
The Magpies had one last chance to try and equalise the scores but Jack McPherson's chip-kick fell into Warilla's hands and the Gorillas managed to remain undefeated.
At Nowra Showground, Gerringong registered another big win, thrashing Nowra-Bomaderry 50-20.
Despite losing Peter Cronin and Rixon Russell in the first half, the Lions had too much firepower for the Jets, running in 10 tries to four.
Nathan Ford continued his strong start to the season with two tries and Joel Roberts had a personal haul of 22 points, while for the Jets speedster Mark Brandon scored twice.
At Kevin Walsh Oval, Jamberoo bounced back to form with a 46-20 victory over Port Kembla. The Blacks trailed 16-6 early and played most of the game with 12 men after Scott Crowther was sent off in the 18th minute.
Jamberoo showed no mercy, using their one-man advantage to run in nine tries.
At Centenary Field, Milton-Ulladulla had a 42-24 win over Albion Park-Oak Flats.