Cherry on top as Sea Eagles down Dogs in finals thriller

The Sea Eagles outlasted the Bulldogs 24-22 in an epic sudden-death semi-final at Accor Stadium on Sunday.

After trailing 22-12 with 25 minutes to play, tries to Daly Cherry-Evans and Tolu Koula ensured Manly would keep their season alive and move on to face the Roosters in week two.

The Bulldogs made the perfect start in the seventh minute after a spilled bomb by Tom Trbojevic gave them field position and quick hands from Viliame Kikau put Jacob Kiraz over in the corner for a 4-0 lead.

On the back of consecutive penalties against the Bulldogs for interference in the ruck it was Manly hitting back through Tommy Talau after slick hands from Tom Trbojevic and Tolu Koula. A pinpoint sideline from Reuben Garrick gave the Sea Eagles a 6-4 lead.

Four minutes later the Bulldogs answered back in style when Kikau exploded through Tom Trbojevic on the left edge to cross for his fifth try of the season to make it 10-6 before a perfectly weighted chip kick by Matt Burton set up Stephen Crichton for a try and the blue and whites had raced to a 10-point lead.

With the game threatening to get away from them the Sea Eagles struck late in the half when Lehi Hopoate soared high to bring down a bomb and offload to Ethan Bullemor who stepped Jeral Skelton and scored under the posts.

A huge play from Crichton when he man-handled Hopoate back into the in goal after the Manly winger had taken a kick gave the Dogs a shot at more points but the Sea Eagles held firm.

Come the 47th minute and the weight of possession told as a tap-on by Crichton from a Toby Sexton kick found Skelton who showed good footwork to get across the line for a 22-12 lead.

The Sea Eagles successfully launched a captain's challenge in the 55th minute after a knock-on call against Garrick and scored straight from the scrum courtesy of a superbly worked run-around play between Luke Brooks and Cherry-Evans, who touched down to make it 22-18.

The Bulldogs launched a raid with 15 minutes to go but a Reed Mahoney grubber was too heavy and Manly came away.

A high tackle penalty against Kikau in the 68th minute put Manly on the attack but the last pass from Hopoate to Garrick went astray.

Four minutes later the Sea Eagles produced a magnificent team try to hit the front when Tom Trbojevic, brother Ben and Brooks played leading roles before Koula showed blinding speed to score. Garrick converted for a 24-22 lead.

Burton launched two late attempts at a two-point field goal to try and tie the scores but both came up agonisingly short and the Bulldogs' first final since 2016 ended in heartache.