The last try of the half went to winger Josh Mantellato

A brave and battered Sea Eagles side was unfortunate to lose to a last minute try from the Newcastle Knights last Saturday at Brookvale Oval.

Manly were first on the board when teenage debutant Zach Nicholls placed a well-weighted cross field kick into the hands of winger Michael Chapman, who crossed in the corner to take the score to 6-0.

Newcastle leveled the scores in the 10th minute when halfback Adrian Davis showed a good turn of speed to break the line and veer around the fullback to score under the black dot.

Manly set the deficit back out to six points with another converted try when a cut out ball from Nicholls found Jackson Williams on the overlap, who avoided the Knights winger to score Manly’s second.

No more than five minutes later, Sea Eagle’s five-eighth Kayse Greer put on a devastating right foot step to score just right of the posts. Chapman again converted to give Manly a strong 18 – 6 lead.

The last try of the half went to winger Josh Mantellato, who took a spectacular one-handed catch off a cross-field kick to send the players into the sheds at half-time with an 18 -10 score line in favour of Manly.

Five minutes into the second half, Mantellato had his second when his opposite winger Chapman let the ball bounce in the in goal, allowing for a contest in the air which eventually lead to a loose ball which Mantellato dived on to score.

The story of the day however, was Manly’s injury toll. After coming within a whisker of scoring, Steve Tavita went down with what looked like a neck injury, forcing Manly to proceed with not one person on the bench after Vasek, Ikuvalu and Tonga all went off previously.

It became even worse for Manly coach Luke Williamson, who was forced to remove Justin Lemalu from the field late in the game, asking his players to hold on with only twelve men on the field.

The pressure became too much for the injury-ravaged side, when Newcastle number 6 Will Smith charged onto an up-for-grabs ball that had just came out the back of his interchange forward Dylan Smith.

The Sea Eagles were not happy with the call, believing that the ball flew out forwards but the result remained unchanged; Newcastle defeating a gallant Manly in the final minute to seal a Round 10 victory, 22-18.

Manly will be at home once again in Round 11 when they play host to Mounties while the Knights make the trip across the Tasman to face the Vulcans.

In this week’s live televised game the Cronulla Sharks maintained their 100% win record with a 28-12 over a gritty Illawarra Cutters side.

The Sharks led only lead 12-6 at half time but ran away with the game during the second 40 scoring an additional three tries. As always halves Finch and Towsend played well for the Sharks but man of the match honours went to fullback Nathan Gardner who put in a strong attacking performance in his first game back form a hamstring injury.

Later that afternoon the Wests Tigers and Newtown did battle at Leichhardt with the Jets emerging victorious 30-26. The Tigers took the early initiative shooting out to a 20-6 lead at half time after tries to Naiyaravoro, Iosefa and a double to Luke Brooks. However, the second half belonged to the Jets who scored four tries to one to claim first bragging rights over their local rivals. Saulala Houma was strong for the Bluebags scoring two tries, while Paul Rokolati also contributed a try and five goals.

At Brookvale Oval Newcastle scored their fourth win in succession with a narrow 22-18 victory over the Sea Eagles. Manly started strongly and held an 18-10 advantage at the break. However, the Knights fought hard in the second half scoring two more tries while holding Manly scoreless. Knights winger Josh Mantanello continued his point scoring exploits scoring two tries and kicking three goals.

A week after their courageous win over Auckland, the Wyong Roos came crashing back to earth last Sunday with a 55-16 loss to a red hot Wentworthville side at Morry Breen Oval. Boosted by the inclusion of experienced first grade campaigners like Ben Roberts, Ben Smith and Ryan Morgan, the Magpies ran riot racking up ten tries, including a hat trick to Brayden Williame, to completely stun the Roos’ faithful.

Mounties three game winning streak came to an abrupt end at Centrebet Stadium after they were crushed 48-6 by Windsor. The Wolves were in control throughout, racing to a 22-0 lead by halftime and they had scored twice before winger Shannon Chapman scored Mounties’ lone try off a quick tap. Young back rower Vaipuna Tia Kalifi continued to assert himself as a star of the future, scoring two tries for the Wolves.

At Belmore the Bulldogs scored their first win since Round Two with an exciting 38-30 win over the Auckland Vulcans. The home side were well served by back rower Paul Carter who contributed two tries in the upset win.