Match Report: Round 7 vs Dragons

The home side got off to a horror start losing lock Jake Trbojevic to a Category 1 HIA in the eighth minute, their struggles compounded by a slew of first half errors.

The Dragons opened the scoring in the 21st minute when Tyrell Sloan was on the end of an overlap on the right edge, crossing in the scoreboard corner.

Errors by the normally slick right edge for Manly included a couple of forced passes from Haumole Olakau’atu and a ball thrown into touch by Daly Cherry-Evans.

Nathan Brown was pinged for a high tackle on the stroke of half time, a penalty goal in front giving the Dragons an 8-0 lead at the break.

Five minutes into the second half the Dragons made it 14-0 when Sloan collected a Ben Trbojevic dropped ball, running the length of the field to score.

Manly’s first points came in the 50th minute through Tolu Koula when Lehi Hopoate threw a long pass to Tommy Talau, who drew the fullback for Koula to cross.

Three minutes later Manly’s already stretched forward pack was stripped of another player when Toff Sipley was sent to the sin bin for hip drop.

The Sea Eagles pinched back another two points through a 40-metre penalty goal before levelling the score at 14 apiece as the hour mark approached.

Hopoate was again involved, splitting the defence through the middle, again drawing the fullback, and feeding Ben Trbojevic who was backing up on the inside.

It was a big night for Hopoate who amassed 272 run metres to go with his seven tackle breaks.

The Dragons hit back just after the hour mark, stacking the short side in the southwestern corner for Jacob Liddle to score to make it 20-14 to the visitors.

With just over 10 minutes remaining Daly Cherry-Evans sent a perfectly weighted cross-field kick for Jason Saab who collected the ball mid-air and planted it in the scoreboard corner.

With Garrick unable to land the sideline conversion, the Dragons held a two-point buffer, setting up a frantic finish.

Luke Brooks scooped up a dropped bomb and looked to have put his team in front with eight minutes to play, only for the try to be disallowed due to Sipley being in front of the kicker.

Although depleted in numbers and showing the effects of a taxing schedule, Manly hard to the end, their efforts including a failed attempt by Cherry-Evans at a two-point field goal.

The Dragons held on to inflict a third straight loss for Manly in the space of just 12 days.

A nine-day turnaround will be something of a luxury for the Sea Eagles before a trip to Penrith on Saturday week.