Siro....Curtis Sironen crashes over for Manly's second try against the Sydney Roosters. Photo: NRL Photos.
A late try to centre Dylan Walker gave Manly Warringah Sea Eagles a 24-22 victory over the Sydney Roosters in the annual Community Cup trial match at the Central Coast Stadium tonight.
In a match played in wet conditions with several thunderstorms circulating the ground, both sides fielded close to their strongest teams.
Sea Eagles Coach Trent Barrett keeping his big names on for the majority of the match in the final hit out before the opening premiership match against Parramatta Eels at Lottoland on Sunday, March 5.
The Sea Eagles opened the scoring in the sixth minute when quick hands to the left put full-back Tom Trbojevic through a gap to slice his way over. Centre Dylan Walker converted for a 6-0 lead.
A good pass from Tom Trbojevic saw second-rower Curtis Sironen through a hole to use his strength to cross over to score. Walker converted for a 12-0 lead.
The Roosters then put on back-to-back tries within three minutes to winger Daniel Tupou and centre Latrell Mitchell . Full-back Michael Gordon converted both tries for a 12-all scoreline after 24 minutes.
Five minutes later, the Roosters were in again through Connor Watson after a break down the right side. Gordon converted the try for an 18-12 lead after 30 minutes.
The Sea Eagles hit back with a converted try in the 38th minute for an 18-all scoreline at half-time.
2nd Half
The Roosters regained the lead when some brilliant play by Daniel Tupou saw Latrell Mitchell score in the left corner. Gordon’s attempt hits posts but bounces away for a 22-18 lead to the Roosters.
A great pass by five-eighth Blake Green put Walker in a huge gap for the centre to score behind the posts. Walker converted his own try to give the Sea Eagles a 24-22 lead after 77 minutes.
NRL Sea Eagles team
1 Tom Trbojevic 2 Jorge Taufua 3 Dylan Walker 4 Jono Wright 5 Akuila Uate 6 Blake Green 7 Daly Cherry-Evans (c) 8 Brenton Lawrence 9 Api Koroisau 10 Martin Taupau 11 Frank Winterstein 12 Curtis Sironen 13 Jake Trbojevic Interchange: 14 Lewis Brown 15 Addin Fonua-Blake 16 Jarrad Kennedy 17 Nate Myles.
Added to team after Blacktown Sea Eagles match win: 18 Brian Kelly, 19 Cameron Cullen, 20 Billy Bainbridge, 21 Peter Schuster, 23 Pita Godinet.
