Manly Leagues suffered their fourth consecutive defeat in the Ron Massey Cup on Sunday with a 46-12 loss to the Ryde-Eastwood Hawks.
The Sea Eagles went into the round four home game at Lionel Watts Reserve, Belrose, still chasing their first win against a Hawks side with two victories from three games.
Trailing 20-6 at half-time after a spirited effort, the Sea Eagles let their hard work go with a second half collapse as the Hawks ran in nine tries to two.
The Hawks caught the Sea Eagles napping to send winger Esera Chee-Kam over for a 4-0 lead after two minutes.
A sneaky pass from hooker Joe Lovodua saw lock Leti Samuelu burrow his way over to make it 10-0 after nine minutes.
The Hawks were in again after five-eighth Adam Fearnley backed up second-rower Daniel Sykes to score from his own initial break for a 16-0 lead.
The visitors then enjoyed some good fortune with a try to Sykes after a low pass from dummy half was dropped by centre Justin Burt on his own tryline for a 20-0 scoreline after 22 minutes.
After coming close to scoring a few times, the Sea Eagles got on the board when prop Lachlan Armstrong pounced on a grubber kick from full-back Tali Toetu’u to leave the home side trailing 20-6 at half-time.
A missed tackle by the Sea Eagles a minute after half-time saw Hawks’ half-back Ben Stevanovic follow a break by Sykes to score under the posts for a 26-6 lead.
Former Manly lower grade centre Simon Tito used his strength to score in the corner for a 30-6 lead after 53 minutes.
Winger Anthony Raheb then finished off a backline play for a 28-point lead before a freakish offload from Toetu’u saw Sea Eagles hooker James Borges put a grubber kick through for winger Munga Baruani to cross for a 34-12 scoreline after 64 minutes.
The Hawks took a 40-12 lead when Bailey Hodges hit a gap as wide as Sydney Heads to cross untouched after 72 minutes before Chee-Kham grabbed his second on full-time for the 34-point victory.
The Sea Eagles lost winger Jesse Michniewicz and half-back Nicholas Ferris through injury with both being escorted from the field.
Manly Leagues now face a real acid test against undefeated leaders Saints at St Marys Leagues Stadium on Friday, April 24, at 7.45pm.
