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MANLY coach Des Hasler described his side's miraculous comeback victory over Penrith yesterday as "one of the great wins in the club's history" despite the result being decided by a controversial refereeing decision.
The Sea Eagles were behind 24-6 at half-time at Brookvale Oval before winning the second half 26-6 and the match 32-30 in dramatic circumstances. Manly's match-winning penalty goal, kicked by Travis Burns in the 73rd minute, came after Penrith's Frank Puletua was penalised for a late tackle on Manly's Matt Orford, who had kicked in general play.
The penalty did look "soft".
"I feel like I cost the boys the game," Puletua said.
But the penalty-goal victory has pushed the Sea Eagles to within one win of a top-four position.
Yesterday's win was achieved without injured players Steve Menzies, Anthony Watmough, Brett Stewart and Steve Bell, who should return next weekend against Parramatta.
Last season at Brookvale, Penrith led Manly 26-6 after 51 minutes before collapsing.
History repeated itself a year on.
"It will go down in the club's history as one of the great wins," Hasler said.
"We had a never-say-die attitude today.
"We showed so much grit and determination. It was an incredible game of football. We showed great self-belief."
Manly captain Ben Kennedy, who left the field for 20 minutes with a knee injury, said: "We knew we had it in us. We remembered what happened last year. "We got a roll and we were hard to stop."
But the Panthers were privately fuming at the final penalty. They claim referee Jason Robinson should not have awarded the penalty, given Puletua was unable to "pull out" of the tackle.
"I thought it was a bit hard," said Panthers captain Tony Puletua.
Brother Frank claimed he was "gutted" by the decision.
Robinson called "clear" before then changing his mind.
"I knew I couldn't pull out," Frank Puletua said. "I thought it was a real tough call. The crowd arked up and as soon as they got louder the penalty came.
"Maybe I should have done something different."
Manly scored four tries in 15 minutes just after half-time and three of those came with Kennedy off injured.
With 17 minutes remaining, Penrith five-eighth Preston Campbell scored a 40m solo try to level the score before Robinson's penalty decided the match.
MANLY 32 (M Creary C Hicks M Robertson P Stephenson G Stewart tries; T Burns 6 goals)
PENRITH 30 (P Campbell 2 L Lewis F Pritchard R Wesser tries; P Campbell 5 goals)
Referee: Jason Robinson.
Crowd: 15,177 at Brookvale Oval.
The Sea Eagles were behind 24-6 at half-time at Brookvale Oval before winning the second half 26-6 and the match 32-30 in dramatic circumstances. Manly's match-winning penalty goal, kicked by Travis Burns in the 73rd minute, came after Penrith's Frank Puletua was penalised for a late tackle on Manly's Matt Orford, who had kicked in general play.
The penalty did look "soft".
"I feel like I cost the boys the game," Puletua said.
But the penalty-goal victory has pushed the Sea Eagles to within one win of a top-four position.
Yesterday's win was achieved without injured players Steve Menzies, Anthony Watmough, Brett Stewart and Steve Bell, who should return next weekend against Parramatta.
Last season at Brookvale, Penrith led Manly 26-6 after 51 minutes before collapsing.
History repeated itself a year on.
"It will go down in the club's history as one of the great wins," Hasler said.
"We had a never-say-die attitude today.
"We showed so much grit and determination. It was an incredible game of football. We showed great self-belief."
Manly captain Ben Kennedy, who left the field for 20 minutes with a knee injury, said: "We knew we had it in us. We remembered what happened last year. "We got a roll and we were hard to stop."
But the Panthers were privately fuming at the final penalty. They claim referee Jason Robinson should not have awarded the penalty, given Puletua was unable to "pull out" of the tackle.
"I thought it was a bit hard," said Panthers captain Tony Puletua.
Brother Frank claimed he was "gutted" by the decision.
Robinson called "clear" before then changing his mind.
"I knew I couldn't pull out," Frank Puletua said. "I thought it was a real tough call. The crowd arked up and as soon as they got louder the penalty came.
"Maybe I should have done something different."
Manly scored four tries in 15 minutes just after half-time and three of those came with Kennedy off injured.
With 17 minutes remaining, Penrith five-eighth Preston Campbell scored a 40m solo try to level the score before Robinson's penalty decided the match.
MANLY 32 (M Creary C Hicks M Robertson P Stephenson G Stewart tries; T Burns 6 goals)
PENRITH 30 (P Campbell 2 L Lewis F Pritchard R Wesser tries; P Campbell 5 goals)
Referee: Jason Robinson.
Crowd: 15,177 at Brookvale Oval.
