Sydney Roosters have jumped into second on the NRL ladder with a controversial 16-14 win over Cronulla on Saturday night.
With the scores locked heading to the final two minutes, Sharks skipper Paul Gallen gave away a penalty for pulling the leg of Roosters captain Boyd Cordner.
Michael Gordon booted the ensuing penalty conversion from 20 metres out, handing the visitors a valuable win with just one round remaining.
James Maloney and Mitchell Pearce had both missed field goal attempts in the frantic closing minutes at Southern Cross Group Stadium, in a match marked by a series of controversial decisions.
With nine minutes remaining, Luke Keary was sin-binned for a strip on Luke Lewis after a break.
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The next set, the Sharks cashed in on their one-man advantage with Lewis steaming through the hole where the Roosters five-eighth usually defends to even up the scores.
However, the Roosters held on and the premiers could now sink as low as sixth if results run against them on Sunday.
Cronulla also have a headache after losing Wade Graham in the 20th minute to a lower leg injury.
Graham left the ground in a moonboot and will have scans on Sunday.
The Sharks lost Graham in the opening quarter and the Roosters immediately sought to exploit his loss, attacking down their left side where the NSW Origin back-rower defends with Blake Ferguson powering over Ricky Leutele to make it 12-2.
The visitors looked to be well on top, however, the momentum turned when Pearce kicked out on the full.
The next set Maloney grubbered to find a flying Valentine Holmes in the in-goal to reduce the margin to four at the break.
But the Roosters did just enough to grab the points and can sow up a home final with a win over Gold Coast next week.
"Not bad, not bad," Roosters coach Trent Robinson said when asked how his side was placed.
"We had a tough run there (with losses to Melbourne and Manly). People will make their opinion on where we sit.
"We know what we've got to improve and we know what we've got to hold onto. We feel like we've done well in those games."
Sharks coach Shane Flanagan disagreed with Gallen penalty.
"I'll have to look at it a bit closer but he (Cordner) didn't get to his feet to play the ball," Flanagan said.
"It's very very frustrating. I don't believe it's a penalty, if anything it's a scrum to us."
