There was an exciting live NRL match on Monday with Manly Sea Eagles edging out the Parramatta Eels by a 22-18 scoreline
Manly trailed 18-16 with just three minutes remaining but a moment of brilliance and possibly desperation saw the hosts grab victory thanks to Kieran Foran’s last-gasp try.
It was a hard-fought battle and probably the best the Eels have played all season, but the Sea Eagles proved they have the fight to go all the way as they continue to shock the critics in 2011.
Manly hit the front after five minutes when they received a scrum deep inside Parramatta’s half after Jamie Lyon chased his own kick and bundled Jarryd Hayne into touch. From the scrum the ball was fed out wide and Michael Robertson strolled over for a simple try, Lyon converted for a 6-0 lead.
The Sea Eagles thought they had extended their lead when it appeared David Williams had gone over in the corner, but video replays showed he never grounded the ball.
The Eels took that as a kick up the backside and responded with a fine try of their own as Hayne fired out a sublime ball for Luke Burt to cross over, But failed to the extras as they trailed 6-4.
Hayne was running the show for the Eels, but the Sea Eagles had their own superstar with Brett Stewart having a fantastic game, and the fullback linked up with brother, Glenn, before sending Williams over for his fifth try of the campaign. Lyon was wayward with the conversion but Manly now led 10-4
The Eels again got themselves back into the game on the half-hour when Justin Horo sidefooted the ball into the path of young centre Jacob Loko who raced through to score.
But it was Manly who had the final word of the first half when Brett Stewart snuck over from close range following a great break from Glenn, Lyon was a again off target as Manly led 14-8 at the break.
The Sea Eagles extended their lead to 16-8 when Lyon slotted over a penalty, but that again spurred the Eels on and they ran in two tries in nine minutes with Ben Smith and Horo crossing over the whitewash – Burt converted on as Parramatta now led 18-16 with 15 minutes remaining.
With the clock running down it looked like the Eels were going to pick up a famous win, but the ball was fed to the right and Williams put in a grubber kick that evaded the Parra defence and allowed Foran to dive on the bouncing ball to score.
Lyon’s conversion made the final score 22-18 in favour of Manly and they remain on course for a Grand Final appearance in 2011.
