GERRINGONG maintained their undefeated record but they had to work for it against a game Warilla outfit, going in 14-0 down at halftime before grinding out a 22-18 win.
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Gorillas fullback Justin Jones had a double in the first 13 minutes, with his side holding the Lions scoreless to the break. The competition leaders found their groove in the second with four tries to lead 22-14.
Liam Vane-Tempest scored with five minutes left to give his side a sniff but they couldn't recapture the lead.
Lions coach Mick Cronin said his side badly missed the jump, but praised the effort in digging themselves out.
"They were by far the better side, 14-0 probably flattered us at halftime in some ways," Cronin said.
"I expected them to start well because they've got young blokes who've been paying all right and they're in a situation where they really wanted to win.
"We started very slowly, we lost a couple through injuries but that's no excuse for the way we played. The first two sets of six told me we were here [expecting] a deadset walk in the park.
"To their credit they turned it around after halftime, played a bit more direct and with a bit more purpose and we got back to what we do. I can't knock our effort in some ways individually but, as a team, we weren't a hundred per cent."
Gorillas coach Troy Grant was naturally pleased with his young side's opening stanza, but said a sluggish period after halftime proved costly.
"It was wasn't so much the whole second half but that third quarter we were very average, our decision-making, our kicking game... it was down big time," Grant said.
"The boys just put together a really good first 40 minutes, everything clicked and they executed really well. We had a good game plan, they stuck to that, and I think they found a bit of rhythm, they've had a couple of weeks together now and they finally gelled.
"We definitely beat ourselves in that second half, no disrespect to them, they're a great side and we respect them, we just didn't take the right options. We gave them field position and they made us pay."
Elsewhere Nowra-Bomaderry handed Shellharbour a second successive defeat, claiming a 30-22 win at home, while Kiama saw off Stingrays 28-20. Jamberoo also set up a mouth-watering clash with Gerringong next week after notching an impressive 34-18 win over Albion Park.