Sea Eagles record mixed results in Junior Reps
Manly Warringah Sea Eagles recorded one win and a draw against St George Dragons at a very wet New Era Stadium on Saturday in round four of the NSWRL Junior Representative competitions.
The Sea Eagles won 12-0 in the SG Ball Cup (U19s) and drew 12-all in the Harold Matthews Cup (U17s).
SG Ball Cup
The Sea Eagles remain undefeated in the SG Ball Cup following their 12-0 win in a match that saw two players from both sides sin-binned. Manly has previously beaten Canberra and Illawarra.
With both sides guilty of early errors in the wet conditions, it was the Sea Eagles who opened the scoring from what seemed to be a normal scrum in the middle of the field.
From a scrum win, talented Manly five-eighth Latu Fainu ran down the left edge before kicking downfield for the ball to sit up perfectly in-goal for centre Josh Feledy to dive on to score. Half-back Tylor Bunting converted the try for a 6-0 lead after 26 minutes.
Manly then held out some dangerous attack from the Dragons to take their six-point lead into half-time.
The second half commenced almost identical to the first, with each side failing to complete their opening set of the half.
Following another push and shove in the middle of the field, Manly’s Tainiu Quiroz-Mapusua and the Dragons’ Tyson Jackson were sent to the sin-bin.
Both sides were beginning to lose control, with another scuffle minutes later leading to another player from each team being sin-binned, this time being Feledy and St George centre Jayden Samrani to leave both teams with 11 men at one stage.
Following back-to-back penalties inside their opponents 20 metre line, the Sea Eagles finally struck again through talented hooker Kobe Fulton after he scooped the ball up and forced himself over the line for the try.
Bunting’s conversion attempt was successful, taking the score to 12-0 in the 42nd minute. Fulton has now scored three tries in all three of Manly's matches this season.
Tempers were beginning to flare again and the Dragons were awarded a handful of penalties but the Manly defence remained firm several times late in the game to take the two competition points.
Harold Matthews Cup
The Sea Eagles played out a tough 12-all draw in a match that saw both sides struggle to hold onto the ball in the wet conditions.
With ten minutes passed, the highlight of the match so far was the halves from both sides and their respective kicking games, pinning the opposing side down in their own territory whilst using the poor conditions to their advantage.
Manly back-rower Roy Quiroz-Mapusua took a big hit and was down for a period of time as his side went over for the first try of the match with 10 minutes to go in the first half.
Winger Calvin Levy forced his way over in the corner for the first points, with half-back Jackson Cahill-Smith unsuccessful with his conversion attempt for a 4-0 lead.
Manly almost had a second try not long after on the opposite wing, only to have the ball knocked out in the grounding attempt. Despite this, they continued the pressure and had another big chance.
However, after three consecutive scramble attempts, the Dragons replied with a try of their own minutes before half-time after St George centre Lyric Moananui latched onto a Manly cross-field kick to score a near length of the field try. Five-eighth Shadi Hammoud converted for a 6-4 lead at half-time.
Three minutes after half-time, Manly hooker Jake Fulton burrowed his way under the defenders on the left edge for an 8-6 lead.
The young dummy-half then had a chance to grab a double, only to be held up just short of the line after a strong run moments later.
The 38th minute of the match saw Manly’s third try, this time through forward Kerisiano Russell, who in the process of scoring, pushed off a handful of defenders to ground the ball for a 12-6 lead.
The Dragons scored their second five minutes later through winger Malik Amine. Hammoud converted from the sideline for a 12-all scoreline.
The final five minutes of the match saw both sides get awarded a number of penalties and optimal field position, with neither attempting to go for two points or a field goal.
With their respective sets, each side went close to snatching the win only to either be held up short of the line or were guilty of dropping the ball. The draw gave Manly’s its first competition point following two losses.
Round 5
The Sea Eagles play the Penrith Panthers at HE Laybutt Field, Blacktown, in Round 5 on Saturday, March 5.
Kick-off times are 12pm Harold Matthews Cup and 1.30pm SG Ball Cup.
