The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles’ Jersey Flegg Cup side have gone down 50-24 in their final match of the season against the Cronulla Sharks this afternoon at 4 Pines Park.
Match: Sea Eagles v Sharks
Round 26 -
home Team
Sea Eagles
13th Position
away Team
Sharks
2nd Position
Venue: 4 Pines Park, Sydney
It was a tale of two halves, with Manly up for the fight in the first period. The home side trailed 16-14 at the break in what was turning out to be a back-and-forth affair.
But it wasn’t to be, with the Sharks outscoring the Sea Eagles 34-10 in the second half to confirm a 26-point defeat for the boys in maroon-and-white.
Manly shot out to an early 12-point lead with tries in the 12th and 19th minute.
A short ball at the line by Tyler Melrose sent Campbell Munn through the defence easily to score next to the posts.
Seven minutes later and the Sea Eagles were in again through Samson Mairi in a set following a drop-out. Melrose was integral once again, throwing another short ball to Mairi who barged past four defenders to score for a 12-0 lead.
Three tries in a ten-minute span to the visitors saw the lead change, with the Sharks leading 16-12 after 32 minutes.
A penalty on the stroke of half-time for offside saw Manly convert from 35 metres out to cut the deficit to 16-14 at the break.
Cronulla came out firing to start the second half with two tries in six minutes to push their lead to 28-14.
The Sharks scored their sixth try in the 52nd minute for a 34-14 scoreline.
Both sides had a player sent to the sin-bin in the 56th minute following a scuffle, resulting in Manly’s Remi Mant and Cronulla’s Lachlan Araullo spending ten minutes on the sideline.
The Sea Eagles fought back to find the line in the 60th minute through Broden Konz. Dowell broke through the line with a strong run and offloaded to Konz who was in support, with the lock scoring in the corner to cut the scoreline to 34-20.
Cronulla quickly hit back with three tries in a seven minute period for a 50-20 lead with seven minutes to play.
Manly bagged a consolation try in the 78th minute but it was too little, too late. A looping chip over the defence by Melrose was taken by Dowell, who swiftly threw a pass out wide to Riley Pennell who scored in the corner for a final scoreline of 50-24.
The Sea Eagles finish their season with 5 wins and a draw from 24 matches played, placing 13th on the ladder with 15 points.
