The Sea Eagles made it back-to-back victories on day one of the Downer NRL Auckland Nines, edging past the Dragons 23-20 in an open and entertaining match.
Early tries to young guns Matt Dufty and Jai Field suggested the Dragons were well in control at 11-0, but the tide quickly turned as Manly stormed back to trail by just a point thanks to Joey Lussick and Curtis Sironen tries.
Half Brian Kelly then gave the Sea Eagles what only minutes ago had seemed an unlikely 17-11 lead at the break.
A spectacular individual effort from Field saw him burn the Sea Eagles down the flank and score a bonus zone try, but the see-sawing nature of the game continued when Manly's Peter Schuster hit back.
A Joel Thompson try in the corner reduced Manly's lead to 23-20 and set up a thrilling finish, but in the end the Sea Eagles did enough to hold on and record their second win of the day.
Sea Eagles 23 (Joey Lussick, Curtis Sironen, Brian Kelly, Peter Schuster tries; 3 goals) def. Dragons 20 (Jai Field 2, Matt Dufty, Joel Thompson tries; 2 goals) Half-time: 17-11.