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Highlights: DCE delivers in golden point win

Rugby league has had some success in Perth. (AAP Image/Richard Wainwright)
Expert
4th June, 2017
22

For the second time this season, the Manly Sea Eagles have beaten the Canberra Raiders in golden point, with Daly Cherry-Evans putting in a man of the match performance at Lottoland.

While it was a Dylan Walker penalty goal sinking the Raiders a month ago, it was a Cherry-Evans field goal this time on the back of a Junior Paulo injury as he attempted to barrel the Raiders out of their own end during the opening exchanges of the extra ten minutes.

Cherry-Evans put in a fantastic audition to take Anthony Milford’s spot in the Queensland Maroons squad if Johnathan Thurston is still injured, guiding Manly around the park all match with perfection.

His first half performance saw them run on four tries, taking a 20-6 lead into the break, before he repeatedly got the Sea Eagles out of trouble during a tense second half.

Backed up by Blake Green and a strong Apisai Koroisau, Manly got off to a barnstorming start, leaving the Raiders in the dust, before the Raiders answered back with two second half tries.

The Raiders weren’t helped by injuries, with Shannon Boyd and Dunamis Lui both off early and not returning.

Dylan Walker was the first over the tryline for Manly, scoring off a perfectly executed cut out ball from Cherry-Evans.

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The Raiders hit back quickly through Blake Austin on a long range effort, but the Sea Eagles then turned it on, with Trent Barrett’s men scoring three tries in 11 minutes through Martin Taupau, Jorge Taufua and Daly Cherry-Evans on the halftime siren.

The second half was a different story though as the Raiders came firing out of the break, dominating the contest and rolling up the field with ease.

Aidan Sezer and Blake Austin looked dangerous, while the right-hand side combination of Jordan Rapana and Joseph Leilua both looked threatening.

They found their first try of the second half through Jordan Rapana past some lazy defence just five minutes in, with Leilua ducking into dummy half and passing short for his winger.

The Raiders struggled to get over the line again, but it was Rapana who sparked something from nothing, breaking the line out of his own end and running rings around Matthew Wright to race away and score.

With a two-point gap on the board, Manly looked to have the match-winner, only to be overruled on an obstruction from the bunker, before a Leilua forward pass robbed Elliott Whitehead.

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In a last ditch effort, Jarrod Croker went racing down the left side of the field and picked up a penalty before calmly stepping up to slot it and tie the match up.

It wasn’t to be for the Raiders though, despite a good start to golden point defensively. The error cost them, with the man of the match fittingly icing the game.

In the end, the Sea Eagles cementing their spot in the top eight with an important victory.

Final score

Manly Sea Eagles 21
Canberra Raiders 20

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