Manly Leagues suffered a 52-20 loss to undefeated leaders St Marys away on Friday night in round five of the Ron Massey Cup.
With a growing list of injuries, Manly Leagues Coach John Faiumu stepped up to play half-back against Saints on their home ground at St Marys Stadium.
The Sea Eagles played with plenty of spirit in the first half to trail 18-4 at the break in their best first half performance before some tired defence saw the premiership heavyweights click into gear with six second half tries.
The loss leaves the Sea Eagles without a win this season in the Ron Massey Cup - the state’s second-tier competition that feeds into the NSW Cup.
After some great goal line defence early to save a try, the Sea Eagles cracked when winger Christian Crichton dived over in the right corner for a 6-0 lead after seven minutes.
St Marys went to a 12-0 lead five minutes later when they shifted the ball left for winger Samuel Curtain to dive over in the corner.
Three minutes later, five-eighth Dylan Marshall weaved his way through the defence inside Manly’s quarter to score under the posts for an 18-0 lead after 15.
A superb floating cut out pass from Sea Eagles five-eighth Jerome Van Der Heide hit Munga Baruani on the chest for the winger to stroll over for an 18-4 scoreline after 20 minutes.
Trailing by 14 at half-time, the Sea Eagles conceded a try two minutes after the break when prop Niko Apelu crossed next to the posts for a 24-4 lead.
Three minutes later, Saints half-back Hayden Bonanno broke through the middle to send full-back Austin Quast over for a 30-4 scoreline.
Marshall grabbed his second try in the 49th minute when he dummied out wide to cross for a 36-4 lead.
Baruani crossed for his second after some good work by the Sea Eagles to leave the visitors trailing 36-8 after 55 minutes.
A lovely short ball from Manly Leagues prop and captain Nicholas Bilsborough saw lock Kylan Mafoa cross next to the posts four minutes later for a 36-14 scoreline.
St Marys extended their lead to 42-14 when centre Sam Lane stepped inside for a try in the 62ndminute.
Marshall crossed for a hat-trick after finishing off a break from dummy half with a long range try for a 46-14 lead.
A smart grubber kick from Van Der Heide saw Mafoa dive on the ball to score in the 70th minute to leave the Sea Eagles trailing 46-20.
Saints finished the scoring when centre Tony Satini stepped his way back inside in a powerful run to score next to the posts in the 75th minute for the 52-20 scoreline.
The Sea Eagles now play Mounties at Aubrey Keech Reserve, Hinchinbrook, on Saturday, May 2 at 5pm.
