Manly Warringah Sea Eagles recorded a 22-all draw against Cronull Sharks at Brookvale Oval today in round 17 of the Holden Cup.
The Sharks were first to crosse on the back off an early penalty. Semisi Vea went over in the 3rd minute after the Sea Eagles were unable to deal with an infield grubber. Fullback Ryan Cummins couldn’t convert and the score remained 4-0.
Manly bided their time before unleashing an attacking raid. In the 13th minute Brad Parker scored in the corner off a great cut out pass from William Pearsall. Nicholas Hynes was unsuccessful with his first attempt for a 4-all scoreline.
The Sea Eagles were in again moments later with Luke Garner goinfor an 8-4 lead after 17 minutes.
Cronulla scored a length off the field try in the 25th minute to hooker Jayden Brailey. Cummins converted to give the visitors a 10-8 lead.
Four minutes later, the Sea Eagles responded with a try to centre Jesse Raimen. Hynes converted to gove the home side a 12-10 lead.
Both sides were struggling to install any kind of solid defence and the Sharks were the next to cross through Levy Sopi in the 35th minute. Cummins produced an excellent conversion from out wide to give the Sharks a 16-12 lead.
There was still time left for either side to score and the Sharks capitalised through Daniel Liddicoat who had too much speed and strength close to the line.
Cummins nailed another sideline conversion on the buzzer and the Sharks led the Sea Eagles 22-12 at half-time.
2nd Half
The Sea Eagles got back to 22-18 through to a try to Pearsall three minutes after half-time.
It took 20 minutes until the next score change when James Parker produced a magic offload to Brad Parker who planted the ball down in the corner. Hynes failed to convert the try leaving the score tied at 22-all.
Both sides had cracks at field goals and both were hooked wide.
Manly then had one last attempt with the field goal but fluffed their chance when they attempted to be tricky.
