Three early second half tries has seen the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles suffer a tough 26-22 loss to South Sydney Rabbitohs at Redfern Oval today in round three of the SG Ball Cup.
The match proved to be a tight encounter that could’ve gone either way after Souths led 8-6 at half-time.
South Sydney ultimately secured victory thanks to a hat-trick of tries in a six-minute period early on in the second half. Manly got back into the game with two late tries minutes before full-time and even had a chance to win on the siren.
The Rabbitohs came out the gates flying with a try in the first minute for centre Daniel Wright after a good shift down the left edge for a 4-0 lead.
Manly winger Alton Naiyep sent the crowd into hysterics with a barnstorming run down the left edge, racing around his opposing winger before palming off another and meeting his eventual tackle with an even harder run.
South Sydney capitalised on a mistake by the Sea Eagles metres out from their own line as Wright scored his second for an 8-0 lead after 19 minutes.
The Sea Eagles got their first points with a try to centre Matari Donovan in the 28th minute. Halfback Callum Dowell put a crossfield kick to the left edge where Donovan chased, leaping ahead of two defenders to grab the ball to score for an 8-6 scoreline.
Penalties riddled the opening period of the second half, and it wore the Manly side down as the Rabbitohs ran in three tries in six minutes from the 42nd minute, with second-rower Sione Lolohea, fullback Yasin Kuscu and winger Jacob Fong each getting on the board. Halfback Matthew Humphries converted three from three to push the lead out to 26-6.
Donovan grabbed his second try for Manly in the 52nd minute after a good shift in play freed up enough space for him to go over untouched on the left edge. Dowell converted from close to the sideline for a 26-12 scoreline.
Manly were beginning to find form late in the match and found themselves back in the contest thanks to tries from Naiyep and Heath Turner. Naiyep scored on the right edge thanks to a well placed grubber kick from Finnian Walsh in the 65th minute.
Turner scored moments later in the 68th minute on the left edge after being sent through a gap in the defence to go over untouched underneath the posts. Dowell converted one from two attempts to take the score to 26-22 with full time right around the corner.
With their last throw of the dice, the Sea eagles went streaking down the left sideline through winger Max Dalby-Ball Faithfull. With just the fullback to beat, he chipped the ball over the top towards the in-goal area. As the siren sounded, centre Michael Feledy chased hard but wasn’t able to get there in time as the ball rolled dead.
Manly head home to host the Cronulla Sharks in Round Four of the SG Ball Cup on Saturday February 24, at 3:45pm at 4 Pines Park.
Rabbitohs 26 (tries: Wright 1’, 19’, Lolohea 42’, Kuscu 45’, Fong 48’. Humphries 3/5 goals) def. Sea Eagles 22 (Donovan 28’, 52’, Naiyep 65’, Turner 68’. Dowell 3/4 goals)
