Match Report: Round 22 vs Roosters

The Roosters went to the break leading 12-4 despite only having a few attacking sets in Manly’s end, with both first half tries coming from the boot of halfback Sam Walker.

It was Manly with the first try-scoring opportunity 30 minutes into the match when Reuben Garrick crossed in the north-western corner, however, the final pass was ruled to be forward.

The Sea Eagles then saw fullback Lehi Hopoate sent for a head injury assessment after he collected the knee of opposite number James Tedesco when contesting a kick. 

Hopoate was cleared by the medical staff and later returned to the field,

It was in the sixteenth minute when the Sea Eagles opened the scoring through Tolu Koula, who showed great strength to force himself over the line on the left edge.

The home side had a couple more opportunities on that same side of the ground  but repeatedly came away empty handed. 

Garrick looked to be on his way over again before being trapped by the Roosters scrambling defence then dropping the ball short of the line.

Ben Trbojevic was sent for a HIA soon later after a nasty head clash, failing the test and not returning.

The Roosters first try was scored against the run of play when right centre Robert Toia forced a mistake from Tom Trbojevic when defending his own line.

The Roosters then raced the length of the field with Billy Smith collecting a neat in-goal grubber from Sam Walker.

The visitors were in again the very next set, scoring a freakish try to extend their lead to 12-4.

The play started with Connor Watson offloading on halfway to Tedesco who split through the middle, then a cross-field kick from Walker found winger Daniel Tupou who passed off the deck for Angus Crichton to score.

The rain got even heavier in the second half has the near 13,000-strong crowd scurried to find dry and unoccupied seats.

The first scoring play of the second period was a penalty kick from in front to put the Roosters up  14-4 in the 48th minute.

A short time later they jumped out to a 20-4 lead when Egan Butcher collected a cross field kick from Walker and dived over to score next to the posts.

Given the conditions and the ball resembling a cake of soap, a 16-point deficit suddenly looked a bridge too far as both sides struggled to maintain possession.

With about 10 minutes left Manly lost another player to a HIA when replacement hooker Jake Simpkin collected a knee to the head when attempting a tackle.

As the rain continued to tumble and time remaining diminished, hopes of a comeback grew fainter by the minute.

The Roosters prevailed after an error-strewn second half to collect the Gotcha4Life Cup for a fourth time, keeping their finals hopes alive.