The Sharks were unlucky to lose a see-sawing Toyota Cup clash to the Sydney Roosters 24-20 in wet conditions at Sydney Football Stadium on Saturday night.

In a thrilling encounter, the Sharks matched it with an experienced Roosters side for much of the 80 minutes and led in the dying stages.

But a late try to representative centre Ben Jones snatched victory for the Roosters.

Even then, the Sharks had a chance to win the game with a penalty deep inside Roosters territory after the final siren, but a grubber kick was defused.

The Sharks started well in the wet conditions, with winger Daniel Perkins diving over in the corner after a smart backline move with only two minutes on the clock.

But the Roosters hit back in the 16th minute when Jones, who played in the NRL All Stars game at the start of the year, charged over.

Minutes later, hooker Sam Brunton, who has also played NRL this year, scored to give the Roosters a 12-4 lead.

The Sharks got back into the game just before halftime, however, when winger Joe Rokoqo scored from a kick ahead by halfback Chad Townsend.

Cronulla then hit the front early in the second half when hooker Dane Snelson, coming off the interchange bench, dived over from dummy half.

But the lead was short-lived, with Brunton grabbing his second with a ’soft’ try from dummy half to edge the Roosters ahead 18-16.

The Sharks looked set to snatch a late win when Rokoqo scored his second with nine minutes left after he pounced on a clever grubber kick from five-eighth Albert Kelly, giving Cronulla a 20-18 lead.

The Roosters struck the telling blow with just three minutes remaining with Jones scored his second, accepting a pass from centre Jack Littlejohn to score in the corner.

NSW CUP:

The Hisense Sharks NSW Cup side were beaten 24-6 by Winsdor at Toyota Stadium.

On a wet paddock, the Sharks struggled to maintain possession with a slippery ball proving to hard to handle.

Hooker Stuart Flanagan again put in an outstanding performance from dummy half, scoring the side's only try of the match.

Nathan Stapleton and Jamen McLeod also had brilliant games but the side failed to capitalise on their efforts throughout the match. Up front, Herman Retzlaff also provided some spark and go forward after being rewarded a starting berth.

Josh Lewis suffered a knee injury during the match and scans during the week will reveal the extent of the damage.

The match will be replayed this Wednesday on Fox Sports 2.