It was the day they went to Wingham in a top-of-the-table clash and ran second in a two-horse race. The 30-14 defeat relegated them to second position.

On Sunday the roles were reversed as the Sharks tightened their grip on the Group 3 minor premiership with a 42-24 victory.

It was impressive.

Coach Joe Cudmore said his side remembered the disappointment from May and used it as motivation to return to the top of the ladder.

“When you get beaten by a side you mark it in the calendar for next time, that’s how the Sharks operate and that’s the mentality we have as a football club,” he said.

In a highly entertaining match which saw both sides exchange tries, there was no sign of Jamal Idris.

Instead it was the performance of young Sharks hooker Mitch Wilbow which stole the show.

Wilbow scored a hat-trick that included a scintillating 50-metre bust out of dummy half where he outpaced Tigers fullback Blake Sky on the race to the line.

“Mitch does exactly what I ask of him every time he hits the field,” Cudmore said.

“I can’t be prouder, especially being a dummy half myself seeing the speed he’s got I’m just insanely jealous. He does his job and can get through holes that no-one else can. We’ve got a dangerous weapon there.”

The impressive Sharks victory came on the back of a lopsided penalty count which stood unofficially at 17-8 at full-time.

Cudmore was measured in his response when asked about it.

“I don’t need to say anything more when it’s like that,” he said.

“From week-to-week it’s not that bad, but then you get one like this out of the blue so I’m not too sure what we did wrong out there, but we’ll have to fix it.

“It’s through no-one’s fault but ourselves.”

The Sharks coach was disappointed his side conceded 24 points and said they still had room for improvement.

“We let them score a few soft tries there but that comes in footy and they’re a talented team so our defence needs to tighten up.”

The new halves combination of Jake Flanagan and Corey Murphy steered the side well around the park.

It was in stark contrast to their sloppy performance in Taree last week.

Flanagan capped off his game with a superb solo try in the 64^th minute which put an end to any hope of a Wingham comeback.

“We stripped it right back at training and simplified our game because we tried to do too much last week to compensate for the players we didn’t have in the team,” Cudmore said.

“We’ve still got a couple of games to go yet, but we’re making the right moves towards the grand final.”