THE axe over St George Illawarra coach Steve Price was temporarily holstered last night as the Dragons produced the grittiest display under his watch to post the club's first victory of the season.

With all the glamour of a junkyard dog chewing a squash ball, St George Illawarra found enough punch to post four tries in an absorbing local derby against Cronulla.

In a heated contest, one section of Dragons supporters chanted "We love ASADA" while a separate area of the Sharks faithful threw a rubber ball at Jamie Soward as he lined up a sideline conversion.

Those who had written off the Red V had forgotten the history, culture and pride still breathing within this club.

It wasn't pretty, but the pride was there in spades, exhibited by the performances of Trent Merrin, Dan Hunt, Jason Nightingale and much-maligned five-eighth Soward, who finished with 13 points from a try, four goals and a field goal.

When Price was asked if there was a feeling of relief, he said: "Especially in the dressing room. They've been working their backsides off over those losses and we fine-tuned a couple of things and we went out and replicated that."

What about for the Dragons coach personally?

"It's not about me, it's all about this footy club and the playing group. I'm just really relieved for the players, they're the ones that have been putting in all the hard work," he said.

"We know we are a good footy team. Certain things haven't been happening the previous weeks, but it's a step in the right place and we can really carry that forward now.

"It's a credit to the playing group and our footy club that we hung tough and got our defence back in order, which has been leaking far too may points. To keep a quality team to 12 points I thought was an outstanding display.

"A special rap goes to our senior playing group. They held everyone accountable and they went out and replicated that performance and everyone got on the back of it."

Nightingale bagged a double, one where he should have been wearing a Superman cape, Soward scored a 75m intercept try and Nathan Fien opened the Dragons' account.

When it really mattered, off-contract five-eighth Soward delivered, and later revealed a section of Sharks supporters had thrown a rubber ball at him when he was lining up a sideline conversion.

"They love it. They threw a rubber ball. That's not really sensible, that's player safety," he said.

"It didn't hit me but stuff like that is unwarranted.

"But it didn't put me off, I still kicked it. I love kicking them from the sideline."

As Soward pointed out, one win doesn't make a season, especially when it's on again next Sunday against Newcastle and ex-coach Wayne Bennett.

"It's great for Pricey," Soward said.

"We're out there putting the performances in, he's putting the game plans on the board, but at the end of the day people are going to talk about whether you win or lose.

"Everyone gets to sleep easy tonight and then turn up Monday and it's on again.

"One win doesn't make your season but it definitely helps.

"We've been under the pump for a month. Everyone's been saying what they want to say.

"Obviously when you're not winning you're going to get more criticism than when you're winning."

Dragons captain Ben Creagh said the club's senior playing group held a meeting last Monday after the embarrassing round-three performance against Canberra.

Sharks coach Shane Flanagan refused to blame the strain the club has been under thanks to the drugs cloud surrounding the club for the letdown.

"I could toss that one up and that might be the case but I'm not going to throw it out there as an excuse," Flanagan said.

ST GEORGE ILLAWARRA 25 (J Nightingale 2 N Fien J Soward tries J Soward 4 goals J Soward field goal) bt CRONULLA 12 (A Fifita J Robson tries M Gordon 2 goals) at Sharks Stadium. Referee: Phil Haines, Ashley Klein. Crowd: 20,130.

REPLAY: HOW THE GAME WAS PLAYED

9.19pm AEDT - DRAGONS BEAT SHARKS 25-12

The Dragons have their first win of the season and what a sweet one it is - a 25-12 derby victory over Cronulla at Sharks Stadium.

Jason Nightingale's athletic double and tries to playmakers Nathan Fien and Jamie Soward - who also kicked four conversions and a field goal - got the visitors home.

The Sharks fall to a 2-2 win-loss record and could have extra concerns following a foot or ankle injury to star playmaker Todd Carney, who was helped off the field before half-time and didn't return for the rest of the game.

9.09pm AEDT - SOWARD SLAMS FIELD GOAL

Is that the game? After an earlier miss Jamie Soward thumps a field goal to give the Dragons a 25-12 lead.

There's only seven minutes left on the clock and the Sharks need more than two tries - the Dragons are surely home for their first win of the year.

9.01pm AEDT - NIGHTINGALE EXTENDS DRAGONS LEAD

Jason Nightingale take a(nother) bow. The Dragons winger scores a second spectacular try, chasing down a Nathan Fien grubber to edge his side closer to a first win of the season.

It's so close they'll need to check upstairs - there's only inches in it but the video ref rules Nightingale has just got the ball down before the line.

Jamie Sowards keeps his perfect conversion rate intact with another clutch kick to put the Dragons up 24-12.

8.47pm AEDT - SHARKS HIT BACK THROUGH FIFITA

Don't worry about Todd Carney, the Sharks are right back in the game thanks to an Andrew Fifita try.

Fifita gets a short ball from dummy-half John Morris and there's no stopping the Sharks big man as he barges over from just a couple of metres out.

Jeff Robson converts and it's back to a one-try game, the Dragons leading 18-12.

8.41pm AEDT - NIGHTINGALE SOARS FOR DRAGONS

Is it a bird? A plane? No, it's Jason Nightingale showing off his flying skills to give the Dragons get first points of the second half and extend their lead over the Sharks.

MATCH CENTRE: Sharks v Dragons

After some good ball movement puts the Dragons winger in space on the right touchline, Nightingale soars through the air Superman-style to beat the cover defence and plant the ball down just inside the corner post.

Jamie Soward nails the sideline conversion and the Dragons are up 18-6.

8.20pm AEDT - HALF-TIME: DRAGONS LEAD 12-6

The Sharks have one last attack to level the scores before the break but the Dragons hold firm and stay 12-6 ahead as the players hit the sheds.

A try each to embattled halves Nathan Fien and Jamie Soward had the Dragons 12-0 up early on before Jeff Robson crossed late in the half to keep Cronulla in touch.

The big talking point though is an injury to Sharks star Todd Carney, who was helped off the field after spraining his ankle. There's no word yet on whether he'll return but that looks a major doubt.

8.14pm AEDT - SHARKS ON THE BOARD AT LAST

Finally some good news for the Sharks as they register their first try of the night through Jeff Robson.

The halfback scores off his own grubber kick, but only after brilliant work from centre Ben Pomeroy who flicks the ball back into play as it bounces over the in-goal line.

Robson is first there to ground it and Michael Gordon's conversion means the Sharks trail 12-6 just before half-time.

8.09pm AEDT - INJURED CARNEY HELPED OFF FIELD

Potential disaster for the Sharks as star playmaker Todd Carney is assisted off the field.

It looks to be an ankle injury as he hops off (on his good leg) to have it looked at, with Cronulla trailing 12-0 about five minutes before the half-time break.

7.50pm AEDT - DRAGONS ON FIRE AS SOWARD SIZZLES

What's going on? The Dragons are in again! This time it's Jamie Soward scoring a runaway try to make it two in two minutes (or thereabouts) for the visitors.

As the Sharks cough up possession while on the attack, Sowards scoops up the loose ball in his own 20m line and races away to score unopposed.

Sowards converts his own try and it's 12-0 to the Dragons.

7.47pm AEDT - FIEN FIRES DRAGONS AHEAD

Throw out the form books, the Dragons have opened the scoring at Sharks Stadium through a Nathan Fien try.

Barnstorming backrower Trent Merrin sets up the try with a big run and even better offloard, leaving Fien a short run to the tryline.

Jamie Soward converts from in front of the posts and it's the visitors up 6-0 early.

6.50pm AEDT - TEAMS NAMED: WEYMAN, VIDOT OUT FOR DRAGONS

The team lists are in and the main news is that Michael Weyman and Daniel Vidot are out for the Dragons.

With Weyman (calf strain) out Jack Stockwell gets to start in the front-row, while Chase Stanley replaces Vidot in the centres and Michael Henderson comes on to the bench.

MATCH CENTRE: Sharks v Dragons

There's also a change for the Sharks, with Sam Tagatese replacing Jayson Bukuya on the bench.

SHARKS: Michael Gordon, Jonathan Wright, Ben Pomeroy, Matthew Wright, Beau Ryan, Todd Carney, Jeff Robson, Andrew Fifita, John Morris, Ben Ross, Luke Lewis, Wade Graham, Paul Gallen (capt). Interchange: Chris Heighington, Isaac De Gois, Anthony Tupou, Sam Tagataese.

DRAGONS: Gerard Beale, Brett Morris, Chase Stanley, Matt Cooper, Jason Nightingale, Jamie Soward, Nathan Fien, Dan Hunt, Mitch Rein, Jack Stockwell, Tyson Frizell, Ben Creagh (capt), Trent Merrin. Interchange: Bronson Harrison, Matt Prior, Cameron King, Michael Henderson.

5pm AEDT - SATURDAY NIGHT FOOTY LIVE

WELCOME to our rolling coverage and live match centre for the Sharks' Saturday night NRL clash with the Dragons.

Kick-off is 7.30pm AEDT.

Can the Dragons turn their poor start to the season around and grab a first win for 2013? Or will the Sharks build on their impressive impressive form to heap more misery on their local rivals?

Keep up to date with rolling updates in this story, plus following the games live in our brand new match centres, complete with match tracker, live stats and live SuperCoach.

MATCH CENTRE: Sharks v Dragons