Warilla have strengthened their hold on a top-two spot after seeing off Shellharbour 34-26 at Ron Costello Oval on Sunday.
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In spirited derby, the Gorillas turned a 10-point deficit into a six-point lead in the space of nine minutes midway through the second half and kept the wind in their sails en route to victory.
It came after the Sharks crossed twice in the nine minutes after halftime to take a 10-point cushion after the scores were locked at 10 apiece at the break.
In a typically fiery clash, the incident that saw Sharks prop Jack Kavanagh and Warilla halfback Blair Grant dispatched to the sin-bin sparked the visitors after a sluggish start to the second 40.
With every reason to turn it up, Gorillas coach Troy Grant was proud of his side's rally.
"I was quite happy with our second half obviously and we just stuck to it," Grant said.
"It was a hard-fought first half running into that breeze and we just handed over too much ball and had to d up too much.
"That took a lot out of us, but you can come at it two ways after halftime and the way we came at it was really good.
"A few things didn't go our way and we didn't throw the towel in. It was a bit dubious on a couple of calls there but the boys really stood up when a couple of boys got marched.
"We got a couple of quick tries while we had one apiece in the bin and I think it lifted the boys and they responded really well."
With some cavalry missing, coach Troy Grant said the win epitomised the 'no excuses' mantra driving to Gorillas through a tough mid-stretch of the year.
"We're not at full strength but the boys aren't looking for excuses," Grant said.
"We're still coming away with those grinding wins and looking after ourselves. To the boys credit, they're coming up with the plays we need when we need them.
"It's working well for us at the moment without having a full squad so we're really happy with the way everyone's putting in."
Elsewhere on Sunday, Nowra-Bomaderry saw of Milton-Ulladulla 17-14 at home, while Stingrays notched an important 26-16 road win over Albion Park.
On Saturday, Gerringong ran in 11 tries in a 64-4 win over Berry and Kiama landed a major blow with a 20-12 win over Jamberoo at home.
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Mitch Jennings
Sports writer. Sport is my passion, rugby league my first love.
Sports writer. Sport is my passion, rugby league my first love.
