Wests Tigers have stayed on track for a top four berth after holding off a desperate Cronulla 24-22 in controversial circumstances at Leichhardt Oval.

The Sharks were denied a try with five minutes remaining, referee Jason Robinson ruling Ben Pomeroy had continued in the tackle after being asked to play the ball before reaching out to touch down under the weight of a gang tackle.

It appeared the Sharks centre still had momentum and had little option to go with the tackle and fall over the line.

The Tigers did it the hard way, continually letting Cronulla into the game during a tense second half.

The Sharks were looking to give coach Shane Flanagan his first win in charge and got off to the best possible start after nine minutes.

Former Tiger Dean Collis took the ball from Trent Barrett and crashed his way past Lote Tuqiri and Chris Lawrence to silence the big crowd.

Five minutes later another player up against his former club – Tigers fullback Mitch Brown – scored after winning the race to a Robbie Farah grubber dribbled into the Cronulla in-goal.

Benji Marshall's kicking radar has been wonky of late but he had no trouble slotting the easy conversion for a 6-4 lead.

The Sharks continued to invite the Tigers in via penalties late in the tackle count or stupid mistakes and eventually the pressure led to the hosts' second try on 24 minutes.

Second-rower Liam Fulton accepted a pass close to the Cronulla line and simply ran hard and straight to force his way over for a soft try.

Marshall's kicking woes continued, the five-eighth's conversion drifting to the left of the uprights.

It was starting to look a touch ominous for the Sharks but they hung in to come with a try on the half an hour.

Trent Barrett's crossfield kick bounced off Collis' shoulder and into Blake Ferguson's hands for a much-needed four pointer.

Scott Porter's conversion levelled the scores at 10-all.

That appeared to be our half-time scoreline until Cronulla went to sleep five seconds before the break.

Marshall took full advantage, serving up a lovely pass for Lawrence to race 40m and touch down in the corner for a 14-10 half-time lead.

The visitors needed a solid start to the second half but instead came up with mistake on the first set of six then gave a penalty.

It was almost inevitable the Tigers would make them pay and so they did; Farah and Marshall combining to send Fulton over for his second try.

Marshall's conversion – greeted by a Bronx cheer from the crowd – eased the home side out to a 20-10 advantage.

Cronulla had to be next to score or risk being blown away and it appeared Ferguson may have found a way back after 52 minutes.

He caught Barrett's crossfield kick and fought off Tuqiri's tackle to plant the ball down as he was being taken into touch.

But the video referee ruled the ball was grounded short of the line.

Three minutes later the Sharks did get the try they craved but it came in highly dubious circumstances.

Barrett's bomb may have been knocked forward by Paul Gallen for the trailing Collis to claim a try.

The referee didn’t bother going upstairs, putting straight to the spot.

Porter added the extras to make it 20-16 and ensure a nervous finish for the Tigers.

But as was the case for most of the night, errors and penalties, including a scrum infringement in keeping with the night's Back to the 80s theme, killed Cronulla's momentum.

Tuqiri appeared to put the game to bed with a 65th minute try but again the Sharks refused to lie down.

When Nathan Gardner grabbed a spilt bomb to score under the posts, Cronulla was back in it at 24-22 with 10 to go.

The visitors thought they had the hit the lead late when Pomeroy crashed over, only to be penalised for not playing the ball.

The Tigers held strong in the dying minutes to claim a less-than-impressive victory.

Wests Tigers 24
Tries: Fulton 2, Brown, Lawrence, Tuqiri
Goals: Marshall 2

Cronulla 22
Tries: Collis 2, Ferguson, Gardner
Goals: Porter 3

Crowd: 14,942