Cronulla 16 Parramatta 14

FUIFUI MOIMOI doesn't say a lot, but what he said yesterday packed a punch.

After apologising to his teammates for the hit on Sharks halfback Brett Kimmorley that allowed Cronulla to snatch victory over the Eels, the front-rower went on the rampage. Which is apt, because that's what he generally does on the field.

"I didn't mean it," Moimoi said. "It was a bit harsh. I tried to get a charge down off marker and I jumped up.

"I thought there was nothing wrong with it. After I hit him, I said, 'Get up'. It was a shit penalty."

Asked if he felt Kimmorley lay down to milk a penalty after his attempted field goal, Moimoi said: "I think so."

The incident occurred in the final minute of yesterday's encounter, which was far more heated than the southerly blowing at Toyota Stadium.

With the score at 14-14, Sharks winger Luke Covell was able to pot the penalty goal just 10 metres from the posts, even though Kimmorley's attempt was from more than 40 metres out.

The rules state that if a penalty is conceded from a field-goal attempt, the kick should be from in front of the posts.

Referee Shayne Hayne initially waved play on, but video referee Bill Harrigan tipped the on-field official into the decision, which helped give the Sharks four wins in a row.

Harrigan said afterwards: "There was contact with his head. There's no debate."

But there was. Eels skipper Nathan Cayless suggested Kimmorley stayed down to milk the penalty, saying: "He's very experienced."

Second-rower Nathan Hindmarsh agreed. "You don't like to say it, but from the video footage I saw, he may have stayed down," Hindmarsh said. "But, mate, that happens. He's not the first person to stay down, if he did. That's how games unfold sometimes. I didn't think it should have been a penalty.

"From what I saw, I don't think Fui had his elbow cocked. He couldn't pull out."

Kimmorley claimed he did not dive, and had a bruise under his left eye to prove it.

"I'll certainly say that I didn't stay down to get the penalty," he said. "Most people who watch the game know, most times I get hit, I stay up. If he doesn't hit me, we don't get the penalty."

Sharks coach Ricky Stuart added: "He hit him in the head. He probably didn't need to take that risk, at such an important part of the game, at such an important moment."

Moimoi was shattered after the game.

"He was very apologetic to the boys, but he didn't mean to do it, he didn't mean to give a penalty away," Cayless said.

"He just wanted to get up and put some kick pressure on him. No one was up Fui for doing what he did, he was just working as hard as he could, trying to prevent him kicking a field goal.

"It was just a shame that such a good game of footy was decided in that way.

"I thought his arm was straight, but he didn't raise his elbow. Because he jumped in the air, he couldn't disappear.

"It was unfortunate that he hit him … it was a tough way to lose the game, after working so hard. It's very frustrating. "It was a shame that either side had to lose by a referee's decision. In such a high-quality game, I thought it was a bit unfair. We've just got to move on to next week."

It was a high-quality game with a few errors mixed in.

And there were other victims, notably Eels winger Tony Williams. They say the bigger they are, the harder they fall, and he certainly did that yesterday, even if the landing was softened slightly by the 76th minute try that levelled the scores.

Earlier, he fielded a Kimmorley kick before, in trying to run out from the in-goal, and under pressure from Sharks five-eighth Brett Seymour, he squandered possession, with his side squandering the lead. Later, a Kimmorley bomb went through the bread basket.

"We knew that they were going to target Tony this week," Eels assistant coach David Fairleigh said.

"It was a challenge for him. He's had a pretty good run so far. He made one or two errors and he's certainly got a long way to go, but he didn't play badly by any means.

"That's the hard part about first grade. You've just got to learn, week-in, week-out, what it takes. I'm sure Tony will do it for Manly anyway next year."

CRONULLA 16 (I De Gois L Douglas tries L Covell 4 goals) bt PARRAMATTA 14 (T Tautai T Williams tries L Burt 3 goals) at Toyota Park. Referee: S Hayne. Crowd: 17,547.