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In what was a game dominated by defence, the Parramatta Eels have put a serious dent in the finals hopes of the Manly Sea Eagles, taking a one-point win at Pirtek Stadium.
The game itself could really only be described as a weird one, with neither team able to gain control and only penalty goals being scored in the second half as the lead continued to change hands all the way to the end.
Neither team played what would described as good quality rugby league, and there were 23 errors throughout the game, many of them basic ones at best.
Manly seemed to be unable to get into the contest, and it almost looked like a lack of motivation and effort at times. With a spot on the finals requiring a win, plus another of early scuffles to get the adrenaline pumping it was surprising just how out of the game the Sea Eagles were at times.
Parramatta seemed to hold the upper hand for much of the first half, but failed to turn it into points with generally poor execution throughout.
In saying that, their forwards led by Manu Ma’u and Daniel Alvaro early on, before Kenny Edwards took the reigns for the later part of the game dominated for most of the night, and made things very hard for Manly. With a game so focused on defence, the extra tackles seemed to hurt them in a big way.
The Eels though again lacked execution and had to work hard to stay in the match and shut down some try scoring opportunities during the second half.
Apisai Koroisau added plenty of spark for the Sea Eagles out of dummy half to light them up, and with the help of Tom Trbojevic they refused to go away.
Daly Cherry-Evans had a poor game, especially given the way he has played for the last few weeks. His kicking game was poor at best and he got tackled in the line numerous times. With next to no support from Dylan Walker Manly were never looking like scoring.
The try scoring opened early in the piece with the Eels on the attack, and a crossfield kick from Jeff Robson. Brad Takairangi would fly to take it, throwing it back for Bevan French who grubbered and then put on a brilliant turn of pace to score.
The Sea Eagles would take about half an hour to hit back with Apisai Koroisau scoring under the posts. He would spin out of dummy half, through some lethargic and staggered defence, crashing over with a determined effort.
Manly would get back on the attack with time running down and from a distance of 30 metres out Daly Cherry-Evans would send them into the lead at halftime with a field goal from 30 metres out, snapping one over.
The second half was a penalty-goal-a-thon, and there were no other points scored. It was more of the same as we saw in the first half with generally poor kicking games, little execution of plays and poor decisions from both sides.
The Eels would push to the lead first, before Manly hit back with just 15 minutes to go in the contest.
Parramatta would then confirm the win with a penalty goal just three minutes from time – it came after Bevan French, who had an excellent game was taken without the ball high. Some will say it was a contentious decision, but the penalty was awarded, the extras were slotted and the rest is history.
In the end, Parramatta with the victory at home and Manly will struggle to stay in the finals race.
Final Score
Parramatta Eels 10
Manly Sea Eagles 9
Match statistics
Tries: Eels (1), Sea Eagles (1)
Goals: Eels (1/1), Sea Eagles (1/1)
Penalty Goals: Eels (2/2), Sea Eagles (1/1)
Field Goals: Eels (0), Sea Eagles (1/1)
Possession: Eels (51%), Sea Eagles (49%)
Completions: Eels (28/41), Sea Eagles (28/38)
All runs: Eels (178), Sea Eagles (163)
All run metres: Eels (1504), Sea Eagles (1391)
Line breaks: Eels (2), Sea Eagles (2)
Offloads: Eels (11), Sea Eagles (7)
Tackles: Eels (362), Sea Eagles (339)
Missed Tackles: Eels (23), Sea Eagles (22)
Penalties: Eels (7), Sea Eagles (7)
Errors: Eels (11), Sea Eagles (23)
The Roar’s NRL MVP
3 – Michael Gordon
2 – Tom Trbojevic
1 – Kenny Edwards