The second-half saw a more spirited effort from the Magpies and several defensive lapses from Manly. While Wests were never in the game, they easily outplayed the Eagles in the second half to score five tries to three.
Best for Manly was probably Luke Phillips who, playing five-eighth for most of the game, directed play well and scored 21 points. Geoff Toovey, Nik Kosef and Neil Tierney also played strongly, while Craig Field scored a try and set up two others in his time on the field.
Manly have now put together back-to-back wins against lowly-ranked sides. The real test of their finals aspirations comes next Sunday, however, when they face St George at Brookvale Oval.
Western Suburbs: Leeds (c), Fisher, Kevin McGuinness, Ken McGuinness, Mills, Kennedy, Hodgson, Georgallis, Coxon, Raudonikis, Howard, Mescia, Fritz. Res: Pomery, Yates, Willis, Laing.
Manly-Warringah: Hancock, Phillips, Hopoate, Hill, Torrens, Field, Toovey (c), Kosef, Gartner, Menzies, Colella, Serdaris, Tierney. Res: Duncan, Lyons, Taylor, Peters, Browne.
FootyTAB: Wests +12.5
Although easy winners, the Eagles were unfortunately impressive only in brief patches, as in other recent efforts. The first 10 minutes were superb, Daniel Gartner and Albert Torrens both scoring great tries. The latter came from a clever cross-field bomb from Luke Phillips, and then some spectacular acrobatics from Steve Menzies to bat the ball to Torrens for the try. Two woeful attempts at conversion from Craig Field saw Manly lead 8-0 at the break.
In the second half things become catatonic, with a series of handling errors from both sides threatening to turn the game into a farce. The spark was put back into Manly with a great try to Geoff Toovey, but Penrith hit back to leave things at 12-4. Two late tries, both engineered through the mastery of Cliff Lyons, put the result beyond doubt to give Manly a healthy, but far-from-convincing win. There were several stand-out players: Anthony Colella and Neil Tierney were both superb at the front, Tierney producing some fabulous off-loads worthy of Ian Roberts or Noel Cleal. John Hopoate also had a great game, as did Craig Hancock and Geoff Toovey. Alf Duncan also continues to impress.
The win leaves Manly in 15th spot, still six points out of the top ten. The Eagles have to win almost all of their remaining games to make the finals, starting with Western Suburbs out at Campbelltown on Saturday afternoon.
Craig Field is back in the starting line-up for Sunday. Teams are:
Manly: Phillips, Hancock, Duncan, Hill, Torrens, Field, Toovey (c), Colella, Hopoate, Menzies, Gartner, Serdaris, Tierney. Res: Lyons, Taylor, Peters, Browne.
Penrith: Jorgensen, Hicks, Woods, Domic, Beckett, Wise, Drew, Cross, Gall, MacGillivray, Puletua, Boyd, Geyer. Res: MacNamara, Hopkins, Thompson, Elvy.
FootyTAB: Penrith +6.5
Next Sunday Manly play Penrith at Brookvale.
Teams for Saturday night:
Parramatta: Schifcofske, Carige, Barnes, Kelly, Whereat, Bell, Penna, Dymock, Hindmarsh, McCracken, Cayless, Crouch, Pay. Res: Simon, Horsnell, Vella, Weston, Troy (one to be omitted).
Manly: Hancock, Duncan, Hopoate, Hill, Torrens, Lyons, Toovey (c), Kosef, Gartner, Menzies, Colella, Serdaris, Tierney. Res: Field, Browne, Peters, Taylor, Hunter (one to be omitted).
FootyTAB: Manly +8.5
Last week Manly were thrashed 28-2 by Canterbury, in another dismal effort.
Earlier stories: [Jan-Feb 98 | Mar 98 | Apr 98 | May 98]
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