Late field goal sinks Sea Eagles in SG Ball Cup
A siren sounding field goal saw the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles go down 29-28 to South Sydney Rabbitohs at Redfern Oval today in round eight of the SG Ball Cup.
The Sea Eagles jumped out to an early 16-0 before the Rabbitohs fought back to snatch victory.
A sweeping left edge back play led to Manly winger Teapo Stoltman diving in the corner to score in the fourth minute. He converted his own try for a 6-0 lead.
Off the back of an electric line break from captain Lehi Hopoate, Manly capitalised through a try to second rower Devante Mihinui. Second-rower Xavier Sofeni converted for a 12-0 lead after 14 minutes.
Two minutes later, Manly continued their dominant start by extending their lead to 16 after Stoltman crossed for his second.
The Rabbitohs hit back in the 20th minute after halfback Brent Hawkins put his second rower Drew Williams through a hole with a crisp short ball to make it 16-4.
With five minutes remaining in the first half, the home side found their second through fullback Dane Towns, who burrowed himself over from acting dummy half. Centre Daniel Wright converted the try to make the score 16-10 going into the second half.
The Sea Eagles started the second half in a similar fashion to the first, with interchange Roy Quiroz-Mapusua using his strength to force himself over, making the score 20-10 after 37 minutes.
With a dream set after points, Manly found another try in the corner through centre Maxwell Taotua in the 40th minute to extend their lead to 14.
The momentum stayed with the visiting squad as Manly’s five-eight Broden Konz took on the Rabbitohs' line defence and won for a 28-10 scoreline with 25 minutes remaining.
Rabbitohs halfback Brent Hawkins utilised his creativity to grubber to himself and regain possession. This led to his centre Jonti Morshead-Feildel scoring underneath the posts untouched. A successful conversion from centre Daniel Wright in the 50th minute made the score 28-16.
With eight minutes remaining, South Sydney skipper TJ Herring set up his fullback Dane Towns with an inch-perfect ball from dummy half. A grandstand finish was set up by Daniel Wright with a successful conversion, leaving his side trailing by six.
In the dying stages of the match, the Rabbitohs put the ball through multiple sets of hands to find centre Jonti Morshead-Feildel who utilised some scintillating footwork to score a converted try to make it 28-all with two minutes left.
Hawkins secured Souths a one-point victory by nailing a field goal from 20 metres out on the siren.
The Sea Eagles now take on the Newcastle Knights in Round 8 at Kurri Kurri Sports Ground on Saturday, April 1, from 1.20 pm.
