Undermanned Manly have kept their NRL finals hopes alive and undermined Cronulla's with a brave and nail-biting 30-26 win over the Sharks at PointsBet Stadium.
The Sea Eagles overcame the loss of prop Tanela Paseka in the opening five minutes with a knee injury, then withstood a fierce late fightback from Cronulla to deny the Sharks in a thriller.
Looking dead and buried trailing 30-0 with barely half an hour remaining, the Sharks threatened to pull off one of the greatest comebacks in history, only to fall short.
The game looked all but over at halftime after fullback Reuben Garrick crossed seconds before the break to give Manly a 24-0 lead.
And shellshocked Sharks fans began filing out when Manly centre Tolutau Koula bagged his second try four minutes into the second half.
But Cronulla replied with five unanswered tries to Ronaldo Mulitalo, Sione Katoa, Cameron McInnes, Jesse Ramien and Will Kennedy to set up the grandstand finish.
The Sharks had a chance to snatch a most unlikely victory, but Kennedy opted to go himself when the home side had Manly stretched for numbers on the left.
Defeat would have been cruel for Manly, who were reduced to 16 men in just the fifth minute when Paseka was forced off after twisting his knee in an ugly tackle.
Relieved coach Anthony Seibold conceded he barely had any finger nails left after the Sea Eagles' season-saving victory.
"It was a bit nerve-wracking at the end. The Sharks were coming home," Seibold said.
"We probably gave them a bit of oxygen too in that 25 minutes but I thought for the first 55 minutes we were outstanding today and we definitely deserved to win."
While Manly climbed to within one point of the top eight, Cronulla remain sixth with a treacherous run to the finals after blowing a golden opportunity to rise to third with Sunday's largely sloppy, weak and ill-disciplined display.
With the Sharks having registered only one win from eight games against top-eight opposition this season, league guru Phil Gould declared Craig Fitzgibbon's side "finals fodder" after last week's 44-12 surrender to the Warriors.
Few could have argued following their inept first-half performance on Sunday.
Lacking energy and urgency, the Sharks gift-wrapped Manly their first two tries to Josh Aloiai and Lachlan Croker but could blame a fortuitous bounce for Manly's third to Haumole Olakau'atu off a John Schuster kick.
But there was no masking the Sharks' dreadful defence for the Sea Eagles' next two, to Koula and Garrick, that left the hosts playing catch-up.
Paseka was diagnosed with a MCL injury after being injured in the suspect, wishbone-looking tackle from Dale Finucane and Toby Rudolph that could compound the Sharks' pain if further scrutinised by the match review panel.
Cronulla's defeat leaves them probably needing two wins from their remaining six games to make the finals.
On form, that may prove troublesome, with the Sharks travelling to premiers Penrith next week, then playing South Sydney, Gold Coast, Newcastle, North Queensland and Canberra.
Puzzled by his side's flatness, coach Craig Fitzgibbon said the comeback was the only positive he could salvage from the wreckage.
"Showed some resolve to get back into the game - ran a bit harder, tackled a bit harder - so that's what we're capable of when we do," he said.
"But it's bitterly disappointing to miss the kick like that."
Manly have a far more favourable run home and could yet feature in the playoffs if they can fashion four wins from clashes with St George Illawarra, the Sydney Roosters, Penrith, the Warriors, Canterbury and Wests Tigers.
