The boot of outstanding half-back and captain Daly Cherry-Evans has lifted Manly Warringah Sea Eagles to its first victory of the season.
Cherry-Evans landed a 77th minute 20 metre field goal to give the Sea Eagles a 13-12 victory over Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in their first home game at 4 Pines Park this year.
In a case of déjà vu, Cherry-Evans field goal was a repeat of almost 12 months ago when he landed a 79th minute field goal to give Manly a 13-12 win for their first victory of 2021.
The match also marked the official opening of the new Bob Fulton Stand at the northern end of the ground as part of the magnificent state of the art Centre of Excellence.
The Bulldogs opened the scoring through a try to new half-back Brandon Wakeham in the opening second after he placed a grubber kick through the line to score. Five-eighth Matt Burton hit the left upright for a 4-0 scoreline.
The rain was proving to be a problem as the Bulldogs surged downfield again through Wakeham after a drop ball. The five-eighth streaked down the left wing and attempted a chip over the top, which was eventually gathered by back-rower Haumole Olakau’atu inside his own ten metres.
Match Highlights: Sea Eagles v Bulldogs
Rather than attempting a kick, Manly shifted the ball on the last tackle and chose to run the ball in the eighth minute. Full-back Tom Trbojevic got the ball on the left edge and tried to muscle his way over, only to be wrapped up in a ball-and-all tackle on the tryline as possession was turned over.
The Bulldogs had their second try in the 14th minute through winger Braidon Burns. Full-back Matt Dufty slipped away from a defender and placed a grubber kick to the right corner which sat up perfectly for Burns. Burton was unsuccessful with his conversion attempt, bringing the score to 8-0.
Four minutes later, Manly replied to score their first try thanks to Tom Trbojevic – his first for 2022.
The ball was taken to the left edge and ended up in the hands of winger Reuben Garrick who dragged in Canterbury’s full-back before passing to Trbojevic. “Turbo’ raced away to score untouched and Garrick converted the try for an 8-6 scoreline.
The Bulldogs were awarded a penalty inside Manly’s 20 metre line in the 32nd minute, leading to a successful penalty goal attempt from Burton for a 10-6 lead.
The Sea Eagles scored their second try a minute from half-time through Garrick after a stunning cut-out pass from five-eighth Kieran Foran. “Foz” ran at the line and threw a ball over the top of two players to find his winger who dived over in spectacular fashion for his first try of the season. Garrick converted from the sideline to give his side a 12-10 lead at the break.
In the 58th minute, the rain continued to pour as the Sea Eagles were awarded a penalty inside the Bulldogs ten metres after being run off the ball. Possession was turned over after a poor grubber kick but moments later, they retained the ball after banding together and forcing the Bulldogs back into the in-goal area for a line drop-out.
After forcing another line drop-out, the Sea Eagles were denied their third try after a knock-on in the in-goal with 65 minutes played. Centre Brad Parker jumped early and got a touch on the ball, denying back-rower Ethan Bullemor a second try in the maroon and white jersey.
Round 3 team song
The Bulldogs were awarded a penalty in the 69th minute and Burton converted the penalty goal attempt to level the scores at 12-all as the game seemed to be going down to the wire.
A horrible kick from Burton that landed out on the full resulted in possession for Manly 40 metres out from the Bulldogs line. A few tackles later, Cherry-Evans was denied a chance to snatch victory after having his field goal attempt charged down. Minutes later, the skipper had another shot and made it count.
With just under four minutes to play, Cherry-Evans received the ball out of dummy half and kicked a clutch field goal from 20 metres out to give his side a 13-12 lead.
With two minutes to play and time running out, Burton was forced to attempt a field goal from 45 metres out for his Bulldogs side, being unsuccessful in the process.
The victory also saw coach Des Hasler mark up his 250th premiership win of his career (166 for Manly, 88 for Canterbury).
The Sea Eagles travel to Mudgee to play the Canberra Raiders on Saturday April 2, 5.30pm, in Round 4 of the NRL Telstra Premiership.
