It wasn’t pretty, but Canterbury ended a four-game NRL losing streak on Sunday.

The Bulldogs downed Cronulla 24-8 in an uninspiring match in Gosford, with doubles to Mitch Brown and Sam Perrett enough to lift last year’s grand finalists off the bottom of the ladder.

The Sharks have lost four straight and have very little to smile about – save for an impressive return from injury by five-eighth Todd Carney.

Carney and Bulldogs No.6 Josh Reynolds both enjoyed key games to breathe life into the NSW five-eighth debate.

Sydney Roosters playmaker James Maloney looked to have claimed favouritism with a star effort in the Anzac Day victory over St George Illawarra, but incumbent Carney cannot be discounted.

He did, however, lack support against the Bulldogs.

As soon as Carney could create an opportunity, he would watch on in horror as a teammate would butcher it.

Carney and Bulldogs No.1 Ben Barba did their best to energise the substandard crowd of 10,131 – who were treated to a mostly substandard game of football.

Carney sliced the Bulldogs left-hand defence apart early, only for centre Ben Pomeroy to ruin the Sharks’ best attacking raid of the first half.

With three Sharks bearing down on Barba, Pomeroy dummied to Carney inside before throwing the ball over the sideline.

He wasn’t the lone Shark when it came to bombing tries.

Nathan Stapleton also looked lost when confronted with Barba, while skipper Paul Gallen spilled a Carney pass just metres out from the tryline.

NSW Origin certainty Luke Lewis was able to cross for the Sharks early after halftime, backing up a Wade Graham bust, but Shane Flanagan’s men will rue their wasted opportunities.

Brown’s opening four-pointer materialised when Barba grabbed a ricocheted grubber kick and sent the winger over in the corner.

His second try was equally straight-forward – a bad read in defence from Beau Ryan left him unmarked to accept a Frank Pritchard pass.

Perrett scored the first and last tries of the game, latching on to a Trent Hodkinson bomb to open the scoring in the 18th minute before a 73rd-minute intercept iced the game.

Hodkinson kicked four goals for the Bulldogs.