The Sea Eagles narrowly avoided becoming the victims of what would have been the comeback of the season on Sunday night, surviving a ferocious finish from the Sharks to claim a 30-26 victory.
After scoring 24 unanswered points through the first half, Manly extended their lead to 30 early in the second period and looked set to claim a big victory, before Cronulla turned it on with five tries – three of which came in the space of six minutes in the dying stages – to set up a thrilling final five minutes at PointsBet Stadium.
It was truly a game of two halves, the first of which saw Manly score five tries on the back of 66 percent possession, before a glut of errors from them, coupled with a much improve effort from the Sharks, saw the hosts dominate almost the entire second stanza.
Not helping Manly's cause was the loss of Josh Aloiai (shoulder) and Taniela Paseka (knee) to injury, while Jake Trbojevic missed most of the final quarter after undergoing a HIA which he passed.
Reuben Garrick try 40th minute
In the end Anthony Seibold's men held on for a win which leaves them equal with the Knights on 23 competition points, just one back from the eighth-placed Eels and three behind the Sharks, who will now be watching the ladder nervously ahead of facing top-of-the-pile Penrith next Saturday.
After running in tries to Aloiai, Lachlan Croker and Haumole Olakau'atu in the first half hour, Manly harassed Cronulla's left edge with success, scoring through Tolutau Koula and Reuben Garrick, with Jason Saab involved on both occasions.
40/20 by Lachlan Croker
Koula made the gap 30 with his second four minutes into the break, before the Sharks hit go.
Ronaldo Mulitalo got one back and came within a whisker of making it two just minutes later, but for the Bunker finding he had lost control of the ball short of the line.
Ronaldo Mulitalo try 46th minute
Sione Katoa then added one on the other side of the field, but with the deficit sitting at 22 as the final 10 minutes approached, any comeback seemed highly unlikely.
However strikes from Cameron McInnes, Jesse Ramien and William Kennedy – all spaced two minutes apart – made it a four-point game with five to play.
Cronulla had chances to steal it late on, but some desperate Manly defence came out on top in the end.
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Match Snapshot
- Josh Aloiai was ruled out with a dislocated shoulder, while Taniela Paseka suffered a knee injury in the loss.
- Nicho Hynes went on report for a possible trip in the 14th minute.
- Both sides finished with 82 percent completion rates after each making 10 errors.
- It was just the third time in eight away trips this year that the Sea Eagles have won.
- Matt Lodge was a key contributor in his club debut for Manly, carrying the ball for 135 metres in addition to making 30 tackles.
- Prior to the match only six Sea Eagles players had achieved an NRL victory at PointsBet Stadium.
- Tolutau Koula scored two tries and ran for a game-high 212 metres.
Tolutau Koula try 44th minute
Play of the Game
Seconds after Josh Schuster had been held up over the line, the Sea Eagles produced a stunner down the right side. After Daly Cherry-Evans shook out of a would-be tackle, he flung a ball out to Jason Saab who in turn flicked the ball back in field as he was being pushed over the sideline. Tolutau Koula was the man on the spot to touch it down.
Tolutau Koula try 31st minute
What They Said
"There was a real flat energy about us to start the game which [I'm] bitterly disappointed in. It ended up costing [us]... we showed some resolve to get back into the game, ran a bit harder, tackled a bit harder, and that's what we're capable of when we do. To show that we can turn it around and get back into it, I was pleased about that, but not much else in the first half." – Sharks coach Craig Fitzgibbon.
Sharks: Round 21
"I thought for 55 minutes we were outstanding today and we definitely deserved to win. We probably didn't handle a little bit of chaos – we had two forwards in Josh [Aloiai] and Taniela [Paseka] injured, and Jake [Trbojevic] went through the HIA protocols for 15 minutes – we probably just didn't handle that period that well. But really proud to come here [against] a desperate Sharks team." – Sea Eagles coach Anthony Seibold.
Sea Eagles: Round 21
What's Next
Manly head to WIN Stadium to face the struggling Dragons up next and will have their fingers crossed for some good news on the injury front, while Cronulla face arguably the toughest task in the NRL right now in the shape of the Panthers at BlueBet Stadium.