Brave Sea Eagles downed by Panthers in Tarsha Gale Cup
Manly Warringah Sea Eagles turned in a brave effort in going down 34-16 to Penrith Panthers at Brookvale Oval today in round four of the Tarsha Gale Cup.
In a match played in very hot conditions, the Panthers side proved to be too strong in the end after running away with the match in the opening 14 minutes of the second half following a tense first half.
Despite some hard hitting shots in defence from the Sea Eagles girls, the Penrith Panthers scored after three minutes on the right edge through winger Kirby Maslin after a good shift in play for an early 4-0 lead.
Hard-hitting prop Tafoa Asaua scored Manly’s first try underneath the posts with a barnstorming run in the ninth minute. Centre Taleenza Nelson propelled the side forward with a scintillating effort out of dummy half for a 60 metre run, only to be dragged down by a handful of chasing defenders. Hooker Alicia Weir converted to take a 6-4 lead.
The Panthers hit back almost immediately off the back of a Sea Eagles error. Hooker Montana Mclean scored in the 13th minute with a smart dummy half play to beat two defenders to dive over for the try. Halfback Jaida Staben converted to take the score to 10-6.
Manly had the chance to regain the lead after a knock on off the kick-off by Penrith. Prop Monica Fasavalu-Fa'amusili was inches away from crashing over the tryline next to the post, only to be held up be a defender to deny her.
Manly five-eighth Aaliyah Haumono threw a phenomenal cut-out pass to her centre Wanita Leatherby on the right edge and she appeared to be over, once again being held up by some shaky Panthers defence. Despite repeat sets at the line, the Sea Eagles weren’t able to capitalise and turned over possession.
Panthers five-eighth Taya Lazare scored on the stroke of half-time with a sneaky run out of dummy half to crash over for a 14-6 lead at half-time.
Penrith scored three tries in the opening 12 minutes of the second half through Bella McEachern, Jemimah Tagaloamatua and Piper Spackman. Staben converted two of the three attempts to take the score to 30-6 with 16 minutes of play remaining.
The Sea Eagles found the tryline in the 47th minute through fullback Chelsea Smyth after a good build up from the team. Asaua was influential in the play, reeling in three defenders before offloading to her fullback who stepped past another defender for the try, taking the score to 30-10.
Piper Spackman scored her second try for the Panthers in the 50th minute on the right edge after another good shift for a 34-10 lead.
Manly capitalised on the 11-women Penrith side, who were short following two sin-bins in the space of five minutes and scored with just under a minute of play remaining through forward Maraea Toia.
Toia scooped the ball out of dummy half and crashed over the lonesome defender for the try. Asaua and Nelson combined moments prior to set up the play, with the former offloading to Nelson to put her into space. Shahana Lasini-Rite converted the try for a final score of 34-16 in favour of the Panthers.
The Sea Eagles travel to Belmore Sports Ground to play the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in Round 5 of the Harvey Norman Tarsha Gale Cup on Saturday March 4, at 11.30am.
