A spirited Manly Warringah Sea Eagles claimed their first win of the Jersey Flegg Cup season with a 14-10 victory over the Sydney Roosters at 4 Pines Park today.
The four-point victory comes a week after their narrow two-point defeat to the Rabbitohs in the opening round.
In what was a tale of two halves, the home side shot out to a 12-point lead at the break thanks to two quick tries in the opening stages of the match.
Despite the deficit, the Roosters didn’t lay down and fought back into the match with a quick try to open the second half.
Fatigue kicked in for Manly as the visitors came within two points of their lead, looking certain to steal the victory. But it wasn’t to be as the Sea Eagles held on with some solid defence and attack to match it to hold out for the win.
The Sea Eagles came out of the gates flying with a try for Oliver Lawry in the opening minute, with the centre also converting for an early six-point lead.
Manly continued to punch in attack and surged downfield with strong runs as they put the pressure on the visitors in the first 15 minutes of the match. The Roosters were forced to kick out of their own 20-metre line on numerous occasions and just couldn’t find an answer to the home side.
Broden Konz scored the Sea Eagles’ second try in the 16th minute after getting on the end of a perfectly placed grubber kick from halfback Tylor Bunting, allowing for the second-rower to pounce on the ball in the in-goal. Lawry converted to extend the lead to 12 points.
Manly continued to dominate the match and control a majority of the possession and field position as the Roosters went down to 12 men for the time being following Hayden Barton’s sin-binning in the 20th minute.
Konz had a chance to extend his side's lead on the stroke of halftime after forcing an error from the Roosters on their own ten-metre line. The second-rower scooped the ball up and dragged three defenders with him, only to be stopped inches from the line as the siren sounded shortly after.
The Roosters hit back early in the second half with a try in the 37th minute through winger Oshay Tyerman for a 12-4 scoreline.
Sydney capitalised on some tired Manly defence to score their second try in the 53rd minute through forward Daniel Readon. Centre Cathane Hill converted from in front to take the score to 12-10.
The Sea Eagles were on the back foot in the final 15 minutes of the match with the Roosters hot on their heels. Errors proved costly as both sides continued to trade possession thanks to silly mistakes.
Manly intercepted a pass on the Roosters 30-metre line in the final minute to secure the victory. Despite the two-point lead, they pushed toward the tryline in search of one more try in the final moments of the match. A high tackle metres from the line led to a penalty for the Sea Eagles from in front, which was converted by Lawry for a final scoreline of 14-10.
Manly travel to Cabramatta to take on the Parramatta Eels in round three of the Jersey Flegg Cup on Saturday March 23, at 3pm at New Era Stadium.
Sea Eagles 14 (Tries: Lawry 1’, Konz 16’. Lawry 3/3 goals) def. Roosters 10 (Try: Tyerman 37’, Readon 53’. Hill 1/2 goals)
