Match Report Round 20 vs Penrith 32-30

[Sea Eagle Scuba]

By Manly Sea Eagles.

With Steve Menzies, Anthony Watmough, Stephen Bell and Brett Stewart ruled out prior to kick off the Delmege Sea Eagles’ chances of defeating the Panthers were looking slim. Down 24-6 at half time it looked all over, however as they did in 2005 the Sea Eagles mounted an amazing second half comeback to record another sensational win on home soil.
The start didn’t go to plan for the Sea Eagles with the Panthers scoring in the opening four minutes on the back of a forward pass from dummy half. The Sea Eagles hit back seven minutes later when Robertson came around Steve Matai after a good offload from Glenn Stewart. Travis Burns was unable to convert Robertson’s try from wide out but a penalty goal with 20 minutes remaining brought the Sea Eagles back on level pegging.
The game was a close tussle until the final fifteen minutes when the Panthers opened up the Manly defence on three occasions. Frank Pritchard crossed after a dubious six to go call, Reece Wesser scored after beating a Ben Kennedy tackle and Preston Campbell rounded out the half after backing up another Wesser line break.
Many had written off the Sea Eagles at half time and down 24-6 it was hard to imagine they could turn the game around, but after Glenn Stewarts try in the opening minutes of the second half there was every chance the Sea Eagles could mount a fight back.
Stewarts try was one straight out of Brother Brett’s play book. A cross field kick held up for the second rower and he picked it up beautifully diving over beside the posts. Travis Burns’ conversion had the Sea Eagles within 12.
Five minutes later the Sea Eagles were in again. Michael Monaghan seeing space on the right side fired the ball out wide and Paul Stephenson scored after improving the position significantly. Monaghan was instrumental three minutes later when he again saw space on the right and put Chris Hicks over for a try. Burn’s conversion leveled the scores and the momentum was with the home side.
With 25 minutes remaining the Sea Eagles intensity was at a peak while the Panthers were really struggling. Solid defence from the Sea Eagles was frustrating the Penrith players and as a result the Panthers started to commit silly mistakes. The Sea Eagles were enjoying far better field position and it was only time before they capitalized.
Manly hit the lead for the first time with 23 minutes remaining courtesy of Mitch Creary who finished off a great break from Steve Matai. Travis Burn’s conversion from the sideline gave the Sea Eagles a six point lead and plenty of inspiration.
With the win in their sights ill discipline started to creep into the Sea Eagles game. After weathering numerous sets on their own line the Sea Eagles defensive line opened up in the middle of the park and Preston Campbell went through the gap and around Michael Robertson to score under the posts. Campbell converted his own try with sixteen minutes on the clock and once again the scores were level.
Eager not to let the game slip away again the Manly defence rallied and worked hard to keep the big Panthers pack inside their own territory. With nine minutes remaining Captain courageous Ben Kennedy came within a whisker of winning the game only to have the ball come loose has he stretched out for the try.
With seven and a half minutes on the clock Matt Orford was taken late and high after kicking on the last. It certainly wasn’t a clear cut penalty however it wasn’t something the Sea Eagles were going to give up. Travis Burns potted the conversion from close range giving the Sea Eagles a two point buffer.
The 15,177 strong crowd were making plenty of noise helping to lift the Manly players. The Sea Eagles defense was aiming up and doing a fantastic job. A huge hit from Mitch Creary on Danny Galea brought the crowd too their feet and Ben Kennedy sprinted in to congratulate Creary on such a big play.
The Sea Eagles continued their strong defence in the closing minutes of the match and held off the Panthers to take a 32-30 win. After doing a lap of honour in front of the screaming fans the Sea Eagles hit the sheds to belt out the victory song.
The Sea Eagles pack was strong against a very large Penrith outfit. Sweeping the club awards was Brent Kite who racked up 174 metres and led the Sea Eagles pack with his great workload.
Ben Kennedy had a truly inspiring game and on a number of occasions his emotions came pouring out. Lip readers would have had a field day as the big man was taken from the field after receiving yet another knock on his knee but late in the second half his vocal and physical displays of passion drove the crowd and the players around him into a frenzy.
Steve Matai had a fantastic game with 156 metres including line breaks, try assists and countless opportunities on the left side. Mitch Creary stepped in on the left wing brilliantly. He bagged a try, displayed some great defence and took home some plenty of accolades from his fellow players. Not bad for a guy who six months ago retired from the game and only trains with the club part time.
In defence Luke Williamson was a cut above the rest racking up 45 tackles. Assisting Willo was Glenn Stewart who once again showed that he is pushing for a permanent position in the top grade making 35 tackles and 76 metres.
Chris Hicks had plenty of work to do during the game and came through well against his old club. Michael Robertson filled in for Brett Stewart at the back and returned the ball well but was caught out a number of times in defence. Against the likes of Wesser and Campbell you can forgive Robertson’s misses.
Michael Monaghan had to dig very deep after breaking his nose early in the match. He returned to field late in the first half with an extremely swollen face but played an integral role in the Sea Eagles comeback, directing play from dummy half.
One cannot underestimate the importance of today’s result. Not only did it take the Sea Eagles to within two points of the top four they showed immense grit and determination against a team that is capable of beating any side in the competition. The Sea Eagles won without Menzies, Bell, Stewart and Watmough, four of the best players in the squad, and that says bucket loads about this side’s ability to win the comp.

It was an extremely satisfying day for the club winning all three grades against the Panthers for the second time this year. The results ensured all grades remain firmly positioned in the top eight.




Match Stats
Sea Eagles: Tries: Robertson, Stewart, Stephenson, Hicks, Creary. Goals: Burns 6/7.
Panthers: Tries: Lewis, Pritchard, Wesser, Campbell 2 . Goals: Campbell 5/5.
Penalties: Sea Eagles 7 - 6 Panthers
Errors: Sea Eagles 5 - 9 Panthers
Crowd: 15,177

 

[Cletus]

Thanks Scuba, pretty balanced report there. Great win and nice to see some of the lesser lights get some accolades.

 

[chileman]

Geez, talk about using your get out of jail free card :shock:
Great to see Mitch back getting a run and he did us proud! How good was Willows defence, at one stage there in the 2nd half when Glen Stewart knocked on as we were attacking and the Panthers were looking to make us pay Willow came up with 4 big tackles 1 after the other....talk about commitment! Monas with his big snoz after copping it there in the 1st half had a huge game!

 

[domdom]

It was awesome at the game. at halftime, i felt we had a chance as last year's effort in the same fixture showed we could pull our butts out of the fire. after brett's try, the crowd really fired up.

definitely going to parra stadium next week. should be a top game.

i was really worried when BK left the field near halftime. he looked to be in a bad way. i guess some injections in the sheds helped him back on.

the icing on the cake was creary's hit on galea. champagne football at its finest. he did well as a fill in. robbo was pretty terrible though.

the hit on ox that gave us the panalty at the end was pretty dubious, but i would have rated our chances in extra time anyway. ox and monas are pretty handy kickers.

 

[domdom]

one other thing about the game i quite liked was that ox was running the ball more. he's a pretty dangerous runner, and you could see he was giving the penfers defence alot of hassle when he ran it.

 

[winnyason]

guts, passion & never say die attitude............go the eagles.
the boys finally stepped up when BK went off a defining moment for the likes of brent kite, willow & mattai what about his game bluey mclennon post him his jumper now for the tri series.
Not getting to carried away but we must win one of our next two which are both on the road this week at parra & after the bye at newcastle.
while many people are putting the cart before the horse & talking top 4, we must win one of those 2 to assure a top 8 spot, look at the teams breathing down our necks.
i have to say again.
mattai came of age yesterday a geniune gamebreaker.The question remains where will he play next year, lock, centre, wing.

 

[CharlieF]

guts, passion & never say die attitude............go the eagles.
the boys finally stepped up when BK went off a defining moment for the likes of brent kite, willow & mattai what about his game bluey mclennon post him his jumper now for the tri series.
Not getting to carried away but we must win one of our next two which are both on the road this week at parra & after the bye at newcastle.
while many people are putting the cart before the horse & talking top 4, we must win one of those 2 to assure a top 8 spot, look at the teams breathing down our necks.
i have to say again.
mattai came of age yesterday a geniune gamebreaker.The question remains where will he play next year, lock, centre, wing.

I must agree with your words on Matai. He can be a game breaker. I remember against the Broncos a few weeks back he could have won us the game. Even he doesn't know his own capabilities. I asked on the ME forum sometime back at the tail end of 2004 who is Matai, what is he like. I got told (By SGT) that he is a similar style of player as Hoppa.
He needs to be on the wing or centres. We need a damaging runner and stinging defender out there so that the opposition gets no relief in attack or defence.

 

[domdom]

matai is such a great player, you can put him anywhere on the pitch and he'll still play well. i think the key with him is to make sure he gets alot of ball. if he's on the wing, we'd need to make sure alot of traffic goes his way.

he would make a pretty deadly winger, his abilty to break tackles is a great asset out wide.