Against The Odds: Sea Eagles storm home to beat Eels

In this week’s Against The Odds series, we reflect on one of the great comeback victories over the Parramatta Eels in Parramatta.

The two clubs will again clash this Friday night in another enthralling contest in Parramatta at Commbank Stadium.

Round 23, 2011

The Sea Eagles had an extra motivation to win against their arch-rivals with second-rower Anthony Watmough playing his 200th game for the club.

Things didn’t start well for Manly who trailed 10-0 after 20 minutes before centre and captain Jamie Lyon got the ball rolling when he sent half-back Daly Cherry-Evans over for a try.

However, another try for the home side saw the Sea Eagles trail 14-6 at half-time.

The Sea Eagles, who were gunning for a top two finish to the regular season, then stepped up a gear to produce a fine second half with centre Steve Matai scoring two tries with full-back Brett Stewart finishing off a superb team try for a 26-20 victory.

Manly 26 (Steve Matai 2, Daly Cherry-Evans, Brett Stewart tries; Jamie Lyon 5/5) d Parramatta 20 (Chris Hicks, Justin Horo, Ryan Morgan tries; Luke Burt 4/5 goals) at Parramatta Stadium. Half-time: Parramatta 14-6, Saturday, August 13, 2011. Referees: Tony Archer, Chris James. Crowd: 11,102.

Sea Eagles

1 Brett Stewart, 2 Michael Robertson, 3 Jamie Lyon (captain), 4 Steve Matai, 5 William Hopoate, 6 Kieran Foran, 7 Daly Cherry-Evans, 8 George Rose, 9 Matt Ballin, 10 Brent Kite, 11 Anthony Watmough , 16 Shane Rodney, 13 Glenn Stewart; bench 12 Joe Galuvao, 14 Darcy Lussick, 15 Jamie Buhrer, 17 Tony Williams. Coach: Des Hasler.

Eels

1 Luke Burt, 18 Ryan Morgan, 3 Justin Horo, 4 Ben Smith, 19 Chris Hicks, 6 Jarryd  Hayne, 7 Casey McGuire, 8 Tim Mannah, 9 Matthew Keating, 10 Fuifui Moimoi, 11 Nathan Hindmarsh (captain), 12 Taniela Lasalo, 13 Reni Maitua,  bench: 15  Shane Shackleton, 16 Mitchell Allgood, 17 Pat O’Hanlon. Coach: Stephen Kearney.