Wow what a game. It was such a high quality football game that had both teams on the edge of their seats almost from the starting whistle.
In the opening 3 minutes a great play from Glenn Stewart to Jamie Lyon who ran through a gap and then passed to Wolfman and then back to Lyon ended in a try. A succesful conversion meant that we were 0-6 in front, a good way to start. A penalty to Manly in the 6th minute gave the Manly Sea Eagles a penalty goal and brought the score to 0-8.
It seemed to go all downhill from there and Manly conceded three penalties and the Broncos capitalised on that scoring a try off each awarded penalty. All three tries remained unconverted and the difference between the two teams stood at only 4 points.
With only three minutes before half time there was a brilliant play from Liam Foran to Brett Stewart and then to Steve Matai who reached over the line and planted the ball. It was a brilliant play that was just too quick for the Bronco's defence. Lyon, who converted 4/5 tonight, did not let us down and this brought the score to 12-14 to Manly just before half time.
Three minutes after half time Corey Norman kicked a ball high, landing straight into Gillet's arms. Gillet slipped through the gap with ease and placed the ball down. Their first try that did not come from a penalty. Corey Parker had an absolute shocker with the conversion kicks and this one was no exception. The try only landed Bronco's 2 points ahead on 16-14.
Corey Parker had me holding my breath for awhile as he plummeted toward the line, only to be held up by about 4 Sea Eagles. Another close call when the ball was kicked high to Reed only for it to slip through his arms and the ball rolled dead.
The Manly Sea Eagles had several close calls during a set in the 50th minute. Liam Foran almost got over, then Anthony Watmough and then a kick from Daly Cherry-Evans almost saw Wolfman over the line. If we can't score a try, we'll have a line drop out thanks Broncos! Another close set and a double knock on saw a scrum feed to Manly.
From the scrum feed another great play from Manly. Jamie Buhrer offloaded the ball and it went from the right hand side over to the left. A brilliant pass in front of a charging Jamie Lyon who passed the ball behind him to Wolfman and Wolfman went over the line. Another successful conversion brings the score to 16-20 to Manly Sea Eagles.
After a knock on from Manly gave a scrum feed to Broncos less than 10 metres from the Bronco's line the Bronco's set up well and scored a try on the 5th tackle. A change in kickers and Corey Norman converts the try brigning the score to 22-20 with less than 20 minutes left on the clock.
The clock was counting down and getting way too close to the 80th minute for my liking, and it had me sitting on the edge of my chair. I almost tuned out because I wasn't sure we could pull together and win this game. We had a couple of good chances that ended in handling errors or just stopped by the Bronco's defence. In saying that the Bronco's had a good chance in the 69th minute but Manly's defence held strong and an early kick was caught by Watmough who ran down to the 30 metre line.
The last three minutes brought out the crazy in me and I started yelling at the computer screen - unfortunately no live coverage. First Brett Stewart makes a rookie mistake - and here I was only minutes earlier exclaiming how he deserved the Blues jersey - and knocks on. It looked as though we were set up to score off that set so it was a moment of infuriation. Shortly after ,Liam Foran and Anthony Watmough seem injured and are really not looking so good. Foran gets up, but Watmough is taken off the field.
Then, the reason why I love my Manly Sea Eagles, we keep playing our best football even though there are only 2 minutes left on the clock and it's not even our ball. We are pumped, surging, ready to go and A late pass from Buhrer to Matai who sneaks through the defence and brings us to just outside our 20 meter. Manly is ecstatic as some brilliant quick passes from Daniel Harrison and Glenn Stewart, then to Jamie Lyon who runs almost to the try line before offloading it to Wolfman, and we are in!! With less than a minute to go we have won the game. Jamie Lyon kicks his only unsuccessful conversion and leaves the score at 22-24 to Manly Sea Eagles.
Three wins in a row. We are back on a roll, back in form, this could very well be another brilliant year from our boys. Back to back premierships? Perhaps!
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