Saints 8 Cronulla Sharks 48 THE merest hopes of World Club Challenge glory were finally shattered for Saints as they once again felt the full might of Antipodean opposition in this second round tie on Monday.

And the verdict was similar to the thrashing by Auckland Warriors. Although Saints gave of their best it was simply not enough to bridge the huge gap in fitness, pace and intensity which separates the game in the two hemispheres.

Weakened Saints were totally out of their depth as they were devoured by the killer Sharks, but they deserve tremendous credit for staying in contention for the first 28 minutes when they trailed by just 8-2.

However despite their strivings Saints found themselves pinned in their own half for long periods and unable to unlock an watertight defence, and clinical Cronulla then took control in scoring 22 points before half-time.

Winger Matt Rogers (son of the legendary Steve) landed eight goals and scored a try to finish with 20 points for the Sharks, while overall, it was impossible to find a weakness in this superb side.

From a Saints' angle great interest centred on the debut of scrum-half Sean Long, and the former Wigan and Widnes youngster did well enough to earn both the McEwan Lager and St. Helens Ford man-of-the-match awards.

But Long was closely shaded by Anthony Sullivan, who twice saved Saints' bacon with last-ditch tackles, while Paul Anderson, Alan Hunte, Andy Leatham, Vila Matautia and Steve Prescott were often prominent.

Rogers and Long traded penalty goals before Cronulla scored their first try through Jason Stevens, and the lengthy screen deliberation plus other stoppages caused the first half to last 47 minutes! Before that point was reached further touchdowns by Tawera Nikau (2), Russ Richardson and Rogers had given rise to suggestions of a record score with Saints facing arrears of 30-2.

But a gallant Knowsley Road squad still refusing to throw in the towel restricted Cronulla to just three more tries, which were scored by Richard Barnett, Paul Green, and Wade Forrester.

Saints' only crumb of scoring comfort came via a glorious 50-yard solo try by Hunte to which Long tacked on the conversion, and they might have had another if Simon Booth's pass had not fallen short of the unmarked Sullivan.

However, Saints were spared the indignity of a 50-point humiliation when 'Sully' overhauled Cronulla substitute Ben Sammut in the act of touching down in the dying second - an illustration perhaps of the commitment

of both sides.

Given the mayhem caused by Australian sides so far in this novel competition, one shudders to ponder on Saints' fate 'Down Under' next month.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.