It was a moment of pure joy and sheer relief at Belrose on Friday night when the Manly Leagues Sea Eagles broke through for their first victory in the Ron Massey Cup.
On a chilly night at a well-lit Lionel Watts Reserve, the Sea Eagles ran in four first half tries for a 22-10 lead before digging deep in a 38-30 victory over the Glebe Dirty Reds.
It has been a hard and tough slog for the Sea Eagles in their first season in the second-tier Ron Massey Cup after winning the Sydney Shield last year.
Injuries along with some heavy defeats saw the Sea Eagles remain winless before the round nine catch-up match against Glebe after the game was postponed last weekend due to wet grounds.
The Sea Eagles went into the game with the addition of props Nicholas Bilsborough and D'Jazirhae Pua'avase as well as lock Kylan Mafoa from last week’s NSW Cup team.
Manly got off to a dream start when a perfectly weighted grubber kick from half-back Christian Abal saw centre Antonio Taufa score for a 4-0 lead after three minutes.
The Dirty Reds hit back three minutes later when winger Tyrone Sa'u finished off a break from five-eighth Witika Rees-Hatu to make it 4-all.
Manly regained the lead after centre Antonio Taufa pushed off a defender to cross in the corner from a scrum win for a 10-4 lead after 18 minutes.
The home side went to a 16-4 lead after 26 minutes when forward Miles Edler used his strength to crash over next to the posts from a short dummy half pass.
A short ball from half-back Tully Wilton saw second-rower Casey Morgan dive over next to the posts to leave Glebe trailing 16-10 after 37 minutes.
The Sea Eagles took a 22-10 lead into half-time when centre Tali Toetu'u snatched an intercept to race 40 metres to score untouched a minute from the break.
Morgan grabbed his second for the night when he carried several defenders over the line to leave Glebe trailing 22-14 five minutes after the break.
Manly then went to a 28-14 lead when Abal delivered a beautiful short ball for Toetu'u to cross for his second in the 52nd minute.
Glebe hit back four minutes later when winger Tyrone Sa’u dived over in the corner to leave the visitors trailing 28-18 after 58 minutes.
A missed tackle out wide by Taufa saw Rees-Hatu dive over for a 28-24 scoreline after 63 minutes.
Manly full-back Blake Metcalfe then missed a 20-metre penalty goal from in front in the 65th minute.
Five minutes later, Edler raced 25 metres to score untouched off a great pass from Mafoa for a 34-24 lead after 73 minutes.
Wilton then sent a scare into the Manly camp when he split the defence through the middle to score to leave Glebe trailing 34-30 with five minutes remaining.
However, Manly were not to be denied a well-deserved victory with Mafoa smashing through the defence in a strong run to cross out wide in the 77th minute for the 38-30 scoreline.
The Sea Eagles now play the Bulldogs at Lionel Watts Reserve at 3pm on Sunday, June 14.
