Manly Warringah Sea Eagles bounced back from a disappointing loss last week to beat Canberra Raiders 24-16 in round nine of the Jersey Flegg Cup in a thrilling encounter.
Wet conditions at 4 Pines Park saw both teams struggle to hold onto possession, with errors constant throughout the match. Manly edged out their opponents with a double from Nepote Taufa in the first 30 minutes gifting them a narrow 12-10 lead at the break.
The Sea Eagles had several chances in the second half to close out the victory. An eight-point lead with 12 minutes to play wasn’t enough as the Raiders pushed to steal the two competition points.
A try to the visitors with five minutes to play gifted them an opportunity, but Manly were able to hold on and sealed their win with a try on the stroke of fulltime.
Canberra opened the scoring after six minutes of play when hooker Owen Pattie used the conditions to his advantage and slipped through the defence to score for a 6-0 lead.
Manly hit back in the 15th minute after a quick shift to winger Nepote Taufa to level the score at 6-all.
The Raiders regained the lead after seven minutes when second-rower Joe Roddy spun out of a tackle to score for a 10-6 scoreline.
Taufa bagged his second try for the Sea Eagles in the 27th minute with a diving effort in the corner to give his side a 12-10 lead.
The home side showed true Manly spirit with some solid individual efforts in the opening five minutes of the second half.
Centre Alton Naiyep made a stunning diving tackle to prevent the Raiders from scoring any further points and moments later, second-rower Broden Konz defused a last tackle kick and ran 50 metres downfield before being dragged down by three defenders.
The Sea Eagles were denied a try twice in a two-minute period to lock Caleb Navale and fullback Aymn Hamilton.
Naiyep scored a sensational try in the 56th minute after breaking out of two tackles and burrowing underneath the defence with his speed to score under the posts for an 18-10 scoreline.
Canberra prop Caleb Garvie scored with five minutes remaining to set up a grandstand finish with the score at 18-16.
An error from the Raiders inside their 10 metre line all but sealed the victory for the Sea Eagles when Navale crashed over to score next to the posts,
The Sea Eagles play the Cronulla Sharks in the first of three matches at HE Laybutt Field in round 10 of the Jersey Flegg Cup on Sunday May 12, at 11am.
Sea Eagles 24 (Tries: Taufa 15’, 27’, Naiyep 56’, Navale 70’. Goals: Lawry 1/1, Bunting 3/3) def. Raiders 16 (Tries: Pattie 6’, Roddy 22’, Garvie 65’. Goal: Skipps 2/3)
