The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles fought hard but were no match for the New Zealand Warriors as the visitors from across the Tasman showed why they’re the ladder leaders this season with a convincing 26-4 victory.
Match: Sea Eagles v Warriors
Round 17 -
home Team
Sea Eagles
11th Position
away Team
Warriors
1st Position
Venue: 4 Pines Park, Sydney
The round 17 NSW Cup fixture at 4 Pines Park was a hard-fought battle and a tale of two halves.
Manly were going head-to-head with the New Zealand side and kept them scoreless for the first portion of the match.
Unfortunately they couldn’t capitalise on their control of the match, with several chances going astray deep in the Warriors’ half.
A 4-4 scoreline at half-time gifted the Sea Eagles a glimmer of hope until the visitors turned it on with four tries in the second half to run away with a 22-point victory.
The Sea Eagles took early control of the match, with most possession coming deep in the Warriors’ half. Despite the numerous chances, they were unable to capitalise as the visitors held out with some desperate tackles. Defence was proving to be the key factor early on.
The scrappy period continued with the Warriors relying heavily on Manly’s mistakes, granting them lifelines they would use to surge upfield.
The Warriors finally broke the deadlock with a try in the 28th minute. A quick shift to the right edge and a smart bit of footwork saw Setu Tu crash over in the corner for a 4-0 lead.
Manly hit back through Clayton Faulalo with five minutes to play in the half. The full-back poked a grubber kick through the line, regathered after stepping around the defence and then forced his way past his opposing full-back to score in the corner, levelling the scores at 4-all at the break.
The Warriors turned nothing into something as they broke the deadlock for the second time in the match with a try in the 52nd minute to Sio Kali.
The ball quickly shifted to the left edge where the winger used his pace to skip past the defence to score in the corner for an 8-4 scoreline.
A second try to Setu Tu and tries from Morgan Harper and Geronimo Doyle in the 59th, 70th and 75th minute sealed a 26-4 win for the Warriors.
The Sea Eagles host the St. George Illawarra Dragons in round 18 of the NSW Cup in the second of three matches at 4 Pines Park. The match kicks off at 1:45pm on Sunday July 6 as the curtain raiser to the NRL.
