NRL
[Source: NRL]
A late try to Ben Trbojevic and a Daly Cherry-Evans double helped Manly to a hard-fought 18-16 win over the Roosters at 4 Pines Park last night.
Back in the side for his first game since Round 12, Trbojevic powered onto a short ball from Josh Schuster in the 71st minute to bring the raucous home crowd to its feet.
The Roosters made a strong start and looked to have opened the scoring in the eighth minute when a Luke Keary bomb finished up in the hands of Corey Allan who crashed over but Daniel Tupou was ruled to have knocked on as he leapt for the ball.
A superb long kick by Cherry-Evans that trapped James Tedesco in goal gave Manly field position but the Roosters dug deep in defence to keep their line intact.
The Roosters were rewarded for their resolve in the 23rd minute when Junior Pauga crossed for the game’s opening try courtesy of a sublime flick pass by Joey Manu.
Four minutes later the home side hit back when Reuben Garrick chipped over the top for Cherry-Evans to regather and score after great lead-up work by Brad Parker.
The Roosters hit back in the 33rd minute when Nat Butcher put Tedesco over with a slick flick pass but Cherry-Evans had the final say in the first half when he snaffled an intercept and ran 35 metres to score to make it 12-10 to the home side.
Six minutes after the break the Roosters snatched back the lead when youngster Sandon Smith sent a long ball to Manu who showed all his power to cross out wide. Smith converted to give the Roosters a 16-12 lead.
On the back of a penalty against Butcher for holding on too long in the play the ball the Sea Eagles marched down field and Ben Trbojevic crossed to level the scores. Garrick converted for an 18-16 Manly lead.
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