ILLAWARRA will head into their clash with Newtown at Henson Park this week high on confidence after grinding out a tense morale-booting 26-22 win over Wyong on Saturday.
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A late try from Damien Sironen inside the final two minutes sealing the win in front of a rapturous home crowd on the second leg of a rare WIN Stadium triple-header. The win kept the Cutters in the top four with the chance to leapfrog the Jets, currently one point ahead, into third sport with a win on Saturday.
The Cutters led 6-0 after just four minutes when man of the match Shannon Wakeman barged over from dummy-half and it was a further 16 minutes until Wyong could find an equaliser through Jake Lewis. The visitors extended their lead Chris Smith and built a 16-6 buffer when Zane Tetevano crashed over 12 minutes before the break.
The Cutters put a dent in the lead moments before the break with Tom Carr finishing a crisp backline move and drew level through Levi Dodd soon after the resumption. Mitch Porter re-took the lead but it proved momentary with Brendan Elliott crossing for a 22-20 lead heading into the dying minutes only for Sironen to snatch the lead and the 26-22 win in the final moments.