New boys on the block, the Newcastle Knights arrived at Brookvale with high hopes of collecting the two points, but it didn’t pan out that way.
1988
By the final whistle, Manly went to town on them winning 44-12 in front of just over 10,000.
A Sunday fixture, warm and sunny.
Manly had piled on the points in previous weeks, with wins over Norths (44-18) and an 11-try blitz (64-12) over Parramatta the following week.
Now it was Newcastle’s turn to face Bob Fulton’s men.
Charlie Haggett opened the scoring early with a four-pointer with Cliff Lyons shining from the outset.
Two quick-fire tries by prop Ian Gately and a breakaway four-pointer by Matt Burke pushed the score out to 20-6 at halftime.
Ten minutes into the second half with Manly attacking the Knights line, Lyons, with his third touch in as many tackles sent a long pass to Stuart Davis to score in the corner.
A break by Michael O’Connor resulted in a try to stand-in half Paul Shaw who scored under the posts to bring up Manly’s 100pts in successive rounds.
Skipper Paul Vautin had a skip in his step after kicking his first ever goal in first grade, taking the scoreline to 38-12. I
Then, in the final minutes a trademark bullocking run by Noel Cleal opened the defence with Des Hasler in support and racing 25m to score between the sticks. Manly running out 44-12 victors.
Scoreboard:
Sea Eagles 44 (Ian Gately 2, Matt Buke, Stuart Davis, Charlie Haggett, Des Hasler, Paul Shaw tries; Greg Gibson 4 goals from 4 attempts; Michael O’Connor 2 goals from 3; Paul Vautin 2 goals from 2) defeated Knights 12.
Halftime: Sea Eagles 20-6. Crowd: 10,031.
Team List:
Fullback: Dale Shearer; Wingers David Ronson & Stuart Davis; Centres Matt Buke & Michael O’Connor; Five-Eighth: Cliff Lyons; Halfback: Des Hasler; Lock: Paul Vautin; Second Row: Noel Cleal & Owen Cunningham; Front Row: Ian Gately & Phil Daley; Hooker: Charlie Haggett. On the Bench: Greg Gibson, Ian Barkley, Paul Shaw. Coach: Bob Fulton.
Written by Jeff Petersen, author of Manly Warringah Sea Eagles Almanac
