Manly Warringah Sea Eagles suffered a 22-10 loss to Parramatta Eels at Brookvale Oval tonight in round seven of the Telstra Premiership.
In a match played in front of a crowd of 14,633, the scores were locked at 8-all at half-time before the Eels rallied late to score four tries to one to take the two competition points.
Twenty-year-old prop Addin Fonua-Blake made his NRL debut after being called into the team to replace Brenton Lawrence (hip). Blake Leary also came into the team to replace Matt Parcell (hamstring).
The Sea Eagles were denied a try in the opening minutes after full-back Brett Stewart failed to ground the ball cleanly from a grubber kick.
The Eels opened proceedings through a penalty goal to Michael Gordon for a 2-0 lead in the 11th minute before a tap on pass by Stewart to winger Tom Trbojevic saw the ball turn back inside for centre Jamie Lyon to score. The captain converted his own try for a 6-2 lead.
Lyon then converted a penalty goal from 18 metres out for an 8-2 lead after 23 minutes.
The Eels had a try denied in the 29th minute to Corey Norman on an obstruction call from the bunker but hit back a few minutes later when a spilt ball by five-eighth Dylan Walker from a crossfield kick saw Parramatta centre Brad Takairangi pick up the ball to score. Gordon converted for an 8-all scoreline after 35 minutes.
Parramatta then had a try denied to centre Michael Jennings a minute later after it was ruled he lost control of the ball in trying to score from a Tom Symonds tackle. The score remained at 8-all.
Second Half
The Eels were denied a second try to Takairangi early in the second half after it was ruled he was offside from a grubber kick.
Lyon put the Sea Eagles back in front with a penalty goal in the 56th minute for a 10-8 lead.
Parramatta took the lead in the 69th minute through a try to Jennings planted the ball down from a grubber kick after it was kept alive from an original crossfield kick. Gordon converted for a 14-10 lead.
The Eels then scored back to back tries through a second to Jennings and Semi Radradra to stretch their lead to 22-10 inside the final minutes.
The loss leaves the Sea Eagles on six competition points from three wins this season.
