A shocking late blunder from Cronulla pair David Peachey and Matthew Rieck handed Canberra a 20-14 victory in a National Rugby League thriller at Toyota Park on Friday night.

The tense victory consolidated Canberra's spot on the top of the ladder and ended Cronulla's three match winning streak.

With the scores locked at 14-14 and four minutes left on the clock, Peachey elected not to dive on a loose ball that was his for the taking, allowing Canberra winger Michael Robertson to toe the ball ahead into the Sharks' in-goal area.

Rieck won the race to the ball but made a hash of his attempt to ground it and Robertson pounced for the match-winning try.

Smiling like a Cheshire cat, Canberra coach Matthew Elliott couldn't believe his team's luck.

"I almost feel like apologising for taking the two points," Elliott said.

"Someone said we were winning ugly. I think horrid comes before ugly, doesn't it? It's like a girl I once went out with.

"We were in a deep, dark ravine and somehow we found our way out of it."

Cronulla coach Chris Anderson, on the other hand, acknowledged he was "dirty at Peach" for his untimely howler just as the match seemed certain to go into golden points extra time.

Peachey said he opted not to secure possession because he thought he would've been tackled into touch and thus given Canberra a scrum feed inside Sharks territory.

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