Manly record historic win in Harvey Norman Women's
It was a scene of sheer jubilation at 4 Pines Park today when the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles broke through for their first win in the Harvey Norman Women's NSW Premiership in their inaugural season.
In front of a good home crowd at 4 Pines Park, the Sea Eagles held on for a gutsy 24-20 win over the Newcastle Knights in the NRL curtain raiser in round three of the open age women's competition.
After going down to the wire in last week's 14-all draw with the Central Coast Roosters, the girls came out with fire in their hearts which saw them hold a 14-4 lead at the break.
Two tries in the second half were enough for Manly to hold out a determined Knights side that scored three second half tries.
The Sea Eagles now sit on 3 competition points with one win, one draw and one loss from three matches.
The Knights opened the scoring after seven minutes with a try through centre Carissa Reid. Winger Jessica Gentle skipped past a handful of defenders and freed up space for Reid to dive over for an early 4-0 lead.
Newcastle looked to be over for their second in the 17th minute but thankfully, a forward pass call in the build-up called Gentle’s efforts back as the Sea Eagles breathed a sigh of relief.
Manly five-eighth Makayla Eli used her strength and skill to crash over for a try in the 22nd minute. Eli, who made the move to Manly after playing for the Rabbitohs in the Women’s Premiership last season, scooped the ball out of dummy half and pushed past a handful of defenders to score and give her side a 6-4 lead.
The Sea Eagles extended their lead through winger Lavinia Tauhalaliki in the 29th minute after capitalising on a mistake from Newcastle deep in their own half. Full-back Aylah McCulloch didn’t read a grubber kick properly and slipped ten metres out from her own line, allowing Tauhalaliku to sprint to the in-goal and ground the ball for a 10-4 scoreline.
Manly continued to pile the pressure on the visitors and it was rewarded, with the side scoring its third on the stroke of half-time through winger Pier Pritchard. A quick shift through the line freed up space for Pritchard to crash over in the corner for a 14-4 lead at the break.
The crowd at 4 Pines Park continued to build, as did the Sea Eagles’ lead as Pritchard crashed over in the corner for her second of the afternoon in the 41st minute. The winger’s grit and crafty footwork allowed her to step past two defender’s tackles before spinning out of another tackle to ground the ball and take the score to 18-4.
Newcastle hit back quickly and found the line eight minutes later through Gentle. The winger stepped off her right foot and squeezed past two defenders to slam the ball down and cut the deficit to 18-8.
Knights second-rower Fane Finau brought her side within touching distance in the 53rd minute. Finau blitzed past the Sea Eagles’ defence and raced away to score under the posts to take the score to 18-14.
Manly extended their lead four minutes later with a try by Tanika-Jazz Noble. The prop used her strength and speed to bump the defence off and score under the posts to push the lead back out to 24-14.
The Knights began to thrown the ball around as the clock ticked closer to full-time. With five minutes to play, Knights halfback Melanie Howard skipped past three defenders to score next to the posts for a 24-20 scoreline.
The Colormaker Industries Player of the Match award went to Pritchard for her two tries.
The Sea Eagles take on the St George Dragons in round 4 of the Harvey Norman NSW Women’s Premiership at Netstrata Jubilee Stadium on Saturday July 27 at 12pm.
Sea Eagles 24 (Pritchard 2, Eli, Tauhalaliku, Jazz-Noble Tries, Eli 2/5 Conversions) d Knights 20 (Reid, Gentle, Finau, Howard Tries, Howard 2/4 Conversions)
