Lafai double sinks Manly

Two first half tries to Canterbury centre Tim Lafai have guided the Bulldogs to a 16-12 win over Manly tonight at Brookvale Oval.

Lafai showed great pace and turn to move past Steve Matai and stroll over for his first try in the 17th Minute.

Manly came back into the game from there, despite mediocre handling and missed tackles.

They got on the board in the 30th minute after Feleti Mateo strolled through two would-be defenders, before crashing over next to the posts. Steve Matai made a mess of the conversion and the score remained 4-all.

In a game that was very end-to-end, the Bulldogs were gifted a try just before half time after some indecision by Brett Stewart at the back. 'Snake' let a Moses Mbye bomb bounce, which was pounced on by Sam Perrett, who found Lafai on the inside to touch down near enough to the posts. Hodkinson with a successful conversion made it 10-4 at the break.

Manly needed to be first to score in the second half, and despite a few errors they were in fact the team to score first. Steve Matai pounced on a deflected kick by Feleti Mateo and raced 40 metres downfield, before being pounced on by Aiden Tolman, who appeared to have held him up. However, the video referee disagreed with the on-field decison and awarded a try, Daly Cherry Evans took the conversion but was unsuccessful.

The second half became a titanic defensive struggle until the final 10 minutes, when both sides chanced their hands in pursuit of the 2 competition points on offer.

Canterbury looked to have wrapped up the game in the 72nd minute when a glorious cut out pass by Moses Mbye hit Sam Perrett on the chest and he strolled over out wide, correcting the position slightly, allowing Hodkinson to successfully convert and making it 16-8 to the visitors.

Straight from the kick off the off, Manly recovered the football and from the corresponding set Daly Cherry Evans threw a lovely pass to Peta Hiku to score in the corner.

Manly tried in vain in the final 5 minutes to find the line, however Canterbury held firm in defence to clinch their second win of the season.

Next week Manly are off to the 'Gong when they face St George Illawarra on Saturday evening, while the Bulldogs begin a run of five matches at ANZ Stadium when they face the Wests Tigers in Friday night football.

LeagueUnlimited.com Players of the Match:
3 points - Timoteo Lafai
2 points - Moses Mbye
1 point - James Graham

MANLY-WARRINGAH SEA EAGLES (12)
Tries: Feleti Mateo, Steve Matai, Peta Hiku
Conversions: Steve Matai (0/1), Daly Cherry-Evans (0/2)

CANTERBURY-BANKSTOWN BULLDOGS (16)
Tries: Timoteo Lafai (2), Sam Perrett
Conversions: Trent Hodkinson (2/3)

Hello and welcome to League Unlimited's Coverage of Friday Night Football!
We have a tantalizing clash at Brookvale oval tonight with Manly hosting the Canterbury Bulldogs. Both sides come into this clash at 1 win and 1 loss.
Canterbury are fresh off a 32-12 hammering of Parramatta last week whilst Manly won a thriller 24-22 against rivals Melbourne.

Big blow for Manly with centre and captain Jamie Lyon out, replaced by Brayden Williame. Blake Leary drops off the bench and is replaced by Back Rower Justin Horo.
No changes for Canterbury, they are 1-17

So Des Hasler returns to Brookie? Can he pull out a win for the Dogs? Or will Toovey exact revenge for last year's 1 point loss?

Will the Prince of Brookvale Brett Stewart continue his amazing form at home? How will Brett Morris fair in his 3rd game as Fullback at the Dogs?
Can Manly offset the loss of Jamie Lyon?
All these questions will be answered in 5 mins! Get yourself comfy, make a hot drink or cold and get ready for the start of Round 3, should be a cracker!

Both Sides are making their way out to a packed Brookvale Oval.

Kick Off!

Lots of cheers for Willie Mason as he takes a hit up gaining 10m

1: Big bomb sent up by Cherry Evans and Perrett is nearly smashed in goal, does well to get out.

3: Manly on the attack after a nice kick return by Williame.
However the same man drops the ball on 4th tackle trying to play the ball only 15m out

3: So Canterbury get a break and get to work it out from their own end

5: Lovely dart by Lichaa but Tony Williams got dragged down 40m out

6: Matai smashed in a huge hit by Josh Jackson and co and dragged into touch. L:lovely defence by the Dogs

7: Mbye is smashed trying to pass it out the back and Burgess collects it and runs 50m, Manly on the attack

8: Knock on by Symonds after a dreadful pass by Cherry Evans, to compound this Canterbury get a penalty.

10: The Dogs run it on the last before lafai piuts in a grubber, cleaned up by Brett Stewart.
Two tackles later Buhrer is put in a dangerous position and Manly get a relieving penalty

10: Manly 20 m out...

12: Video referee decison after ballin kicks from dummy half 5m out, bounces high but apperas that Symonds has knocked it on. No Try
20m restart

14: Knock on by Josh Jackson and Manly will get the ball in favourable position 40 m out from their own line.

16: Counter attack by the Dogs, Perrett collects it and sends morris away on a 50m dash, on the oter side Josh Morris is so close but cant get over the line.

16: TRY CANTERBURY-BANKSTOWN BULLDOGS
Scored by Timoteo Lafai. Kick to come.
TRY! They spread it to the right and Jackson sends it over to Lafai and he strolls in! 4-0

17: UNSUCCESSFUL CONVERSION CANTERBURY-BANKSTOWN BULLDOGS
Conversion attempt by Trent Hodkinson unsuccessful.
Bad miss from Hodkinson, shanks it to the right.

18: Rain really coming down now!

19: Error by the Dogs only 20m out! Chance for Manly to hit right back now. Great opportunity

21: Video Referee decison for Manly. Checking for obstruction.

21: NO TRY! Obstruction. Manly fans are furious!

22: Comical scenes as the Dogs are only 20 m out, Mbye makes a real hash of the kick, Manly eventually recover it

23: Penalty to the Dogs for a infringement in the play the ball

24: Dogs 10 m out!

24: Knock on by Brett Morris, Manly escape again. Weather making things difficult for both teams

25: Morris with another safe take and makes 15m on the kick return

25: End to end stuff at the moment, will this game get broken open by some individual magic?

26: Morris (Brett) is trapped in goal after a great kick by DCE, great defence and kick chase

28: Manly on the attack!

29: TRY MANLY-WARRINGAH SEA EAGLES
Scored by Feleti Mateo. Kick to come.
The Big Man Mateo is over! Great pass by DCE opens space and Mateo runs over two defenders on his way to the line! Manly tie it up, good play!

31: UNSUCCESSFUL CONVERSION MANLY-WARRINGAH SEA EAGLES
Conversion attempt by Steve Matai unsuccessful.
Oh My Goodness! Matai misses from in front! Amazing miss!

31: Dogs get the ball back after DCE fumbles the ball, Bulldogs on the attack!

32: Mbye sends it out wide on the last but manly scramble well, Dogs get a penalty though and will continue the presure

33: Knock on by the Dogs and Manly's defence again comes up trumps, another big time play

34: manly struggle to get out of their own half and Canterbury work it out comfortably, 30 m out from their own line

35: TRY CANTERBURY-BANKSTOWN BULLDOGS
Scored by Timoteo Lafai. Kick to come.
Disaster for Manly, Stewart lets it bounce and it falls straight into the lap of Perrett who has Lafai backing and he has his second! 8-4

36: SUCCESSFUL CONVERSION CANTERBURY-BANKSTOWN BULLDOGS
Conversion attempt by Trent Hodkinson successful.
Hodkinson sneaks this one home and The Dogs have taken back the lead, 10-4

37: Rain is getting heavier as well folks

38: Great set after points and Hodkinson hits a lovely kick to send the ball inside the Manly 20

39: Buhrer sends it high in the air after DCE is nearly caught with it, Canterbury take it out

40: That's half time folks. Errors and missed tackles hurting Manly at the moment, the rain not helping proceedings either.
Bulldogs will be delighted with a 10-4 lead.
Join us in 10 mins

40: Geoff Toovey will want a much improved effort in this second half. A real lacklustre effort that is not a common occurrence with Manly. They are still in it only trailing by 6.

40: Here we go for the second half! What does this 40 mins have in store for us?

40: Penalty to the Dogs straight off the bat, bad start by manly...

42: Canterbury on the attack and Eastwood is caught with it on last and puts in a deft little grubber but Cheyse Blair does very well to get out of the in goal and stay in the field of play

43: Brett Morris with a very healthy kick return (again) and Canterbury only 25m out.

46: Blair fields a high bomb by Hodkinson albeit under no pressure. Manly need a spark from someone

47: Anyone see Toovey's face there? meme anyone?

47: DCE kick is deflected , Mateo kicks it again and despite Stewart flying along, Morris takes it dead. He hits his knee very hard and takes it dead.
The referee's find an error by Manly though and Canterbury get the ball via a change over 30m out

48: High shot by Klemmer on Stewart and Manly get a much needed penalty

49: TRY MANLY-WARRINGAH SEA EAGLES
Scored by Steve Matai. Kick to come.
Tolman looks like he has held up Matai in a phenomenal effort.
DCE kicks it and it gets deflected into the arms of Matai who strains to get to the line. But the Video referee syas there is enough proff that Matai has got it down! manly are back!

50: UNSUCCESSFUL CONVERSION MANLY-WARRINGAH SEA EAGLES
Conversion attempt by Daly Cherry-Evans unsuccessful.
No good from DCE, his 59% success rate goes down further

51: Knock on by Manly on 2nd tackle! Toovey must be pulling his hair out. Oh wait...

52: Great defence by DCE! Rushes up and crunches Mbye and its a changeover, big play by the Manly team there

55: Mateo crashing through defenders for fun, he's on fire!
Next tackle a smart kick by DCE forces a drop out.

56: Shocking pass on the last is lost backwards by DCE and Williame is tackled with the ball on the last, poor end by Manly

59: Perrett takes the ball and makes 25m on the kick return. Matai wheels away from the tackle and looks in some pain, hyper extends his elbow by the looks of it, Ouch!

59: Matai is devastated and is taken off the field. His injury curse continues

59: Justin Horo comes on to replace him

61: A bit of end to end stuff at the moment, very exciting to watch. Who will score next, points have been at a premium.
Meanwhile it's a penalty to Manly.
20m out.

61: Knock on again by Manly, Horo this time! They're killing themselves Manly

63: Canterbury making metres galore! 20 m out, but they make an error on the last and the Sea Eagles survive.

64: Another error by Horo and Canterbury get the ball in great field position

65: Mbye puts it up in the heavens but well taken by Hiku who has had a quiet night, Manly now try and work it out of their own end. The home crowd singing for a penalty

67: Bad kick agian from the Dogs and Manly are again off the hook, need to be more aggressive there.
This game can go either way with 12 mins remaining

69: Symonds goes for an intercept but knocks it on! Another set here for the Dogs! A try here could almost seal it.

70: TRY CANTERBURY-BANKSTOWN BULLDOGS
Scored by Sam Perrett. Kick to come.
Glorious pass by Mbye! Cut out ball about 10 metres, Manly rush up and just can't get the numbers across and Perrett cruises his way over! 14-8

72: SUCCESSFUL CONVERSION CANTERBURY-BANKSTOWN BULLDOGS
Conversion attempt by Trent Hodkinson successful.
Hodkinson keeps his nerve and puts the Dogs up by 16-8!

72: Steve Matai is back on the field! Amazing, then Manly regather the kickoff after the Dogs let the ball bounce! Drama!

73: Manly on the attack!

74: TRY MANLY-WARRINGAH SEA EAGLES
Scored by Peta Hiku. Kick to come.
Peter Hiku is in! Game back on folks! DCE with a lovely pass out wide after Canterbury rush out trying to close the halfback down, 16-12!

75: UNSUCCESSFUL CONVERSION MANLY-WARRINGAH SEA EAGLES
Conversion attempt by Daly Cherry-Evans unsuccessful.
No good from DCE, looks good off the boot but is waved away. 16-12

76: Great take by Morris under pressure! Swirling in the wind, smart stuff

78: 2 mins left, after Canterbury kick the ball into touch, it's been played at by Manly though! Dogs feed.

79: Josh Morris is caught on last 2m out! One last chance for Manly!

80: Manly bizarrely take a hit up and that's full time!