Manly Warringah Sea Eagles suffered a 50-12 loss to the Penrith Panthers in round five of the Intrust Super Premiership at Brookvale Oval today.
The visitors opened the scoring early on when Andrew Heffernan was able to make his way in from the sideline to place the ball down and give his side a 4-0 lead.
The Sea Eagles settled well after going behind early but Penrith fullback Sam Clune spotted a break in the Manly line to race through and score under the posts and give the visitors a 10-0 lead with 20 minutes played. Isaac John was withdrawn from the match after suffering a concussion late on in the first half and failed to return to the field.
George Jennings capitalised on a high kick that evaded the Manly defence and with the luck of the bounce the young Panthers winger placed the ball down to give his side a 16-0 lead heading into half time.
Second half
The Panthers stormed out to a 26-0 lead early in the second half when Josh Hall and Chris Smith broke the Sea Eagles defensive line to put the game beyond the home side early on in the second half.
Hall then displayed his sheer pace as he raced away from his own 30-metre line to stretch the lead to 32-0 after an error from Manly.
Zach Dockar-Clay finished off a nice team move to find a gap in the Manly wall and place the ball down for a 38-0 lead after an exquisite pass from five-eighth Matt Place.
The Panthers five-eighth was able to capitalise from Sea Eagles knock on to race through under the posts and put the Panthers into a clear 44-0 margin after Josh Hall again converted the try.
Addin Fonua-Blake provided the spark that was needed for the Sea Eagles as he bustled his way over for two tries late on to reduce the score line for the home side.
Sam Clune added the final touch for the visitors as he raced through three defenders to place the ball down and seal the 50-12 win for the Panthers.
Manly team 14. Tim Moltzen, 1. Ben Fritz, 16. Peter Schuster, 5. Brayden Wiliame, 3. James Tuitahi, 6. Isaac John, 7. Pita Godinet, 8. Fabian Goodall, 9. Hugh Pratt, 10. Addin Fonua-Blake, 15. Rhys Armstrong, 12. Dylan Kelly, 20. Luke Burgess. Interchange, 2. Halauafu Lavaka, 13. Daniel Vasek, 22. Moses McGreal, 23. Jordan Simms
