Fortress Brookvale holds out powerless Penrith

Despite Penrith's mountains of possession, fortress Brookvale proved exceedingly difficult to penetrate with sensational Manly defence ruling the night, where the home side Manly won 22-16 in front of 14,623 fans.

The first half was ruled by Manly's defence, which put up a mammoth effort holding Penrith back despite the visitors having all the possession and great field position most of the opening 40. When Manly finally got some attacking position they looked the far more threatening and converted that to points in the 16th minute with a try to winger Michael Oldfield.

Penrith were camped in Manly's 20 for long passages of the first half, but only managed a couple of disallowed tries from the video referee with the Manly defence refusing to budge. Manly crossed again in the 20th minute off the back of a Penrith mistake with a soft try to Matai off the back of the scrum, Cherry-Evans converted this one and Manly were up 10 - 0.

Manly had momentum without the appropriate field position whilst Penrith had the field position but couldn't penetrate the Manly line. Penrith however proved that if they could not get through them, they would have to go around them and did so in the dying moments of the first half finally getting points on the board with a team effort putting Simmons in the corner to take them into half time down 10 points to 4.

A few errors from both sides opened the second half, but within a few minutes Manly were in to score again, Matai with his second from a length of the field play had Manly well placed after Cherry-Evans converted to give Manly a 12 point lead.  Manly's defence stayed strong to cushion their lead and prove too good for their western suburbs opponents.

Manly held on to their 12 point lead before using a Penrith play the ball penalty to pad their score further taking the 2 in the 69th minute to take the lead up to 14.  Manly put another four points on just minutes later through a try to winger Robertson in the 73rd minute to all but finish the game for Manly.

Penrith hit back in the dying minutes with two tries helping them finish the game with a more respectable scoreline, Tahu and Rose scoring in the 76th and 80th minutes respectively.  The tries came on the back of some creativity which was the only thing which could help them take on the fortress.  The points however, were too little too late.  Manly took the game 22 - 16.

Match Details
Manly Sea Eagles 22 defeated Penrith Panthers 16
National Rugby League - Round 7 - Friday April 22, 2011 7:30pm
Venue: Brookvale Oval
Referee: Jason Robinson and Phil Haines
Video Referee: Sean Hampstead
Touch Judges: Steve Chiddy and Luke Phillips
Crowd: 14,623
Halftime: Manly Sea Eagles 10 Penrith Panthers 4

Leagueunlimited.com players of the match:
3 Points - William Hopoate
2 Points - Daly Cherry-Evans (2 Conversions, 1 Penalty Goal)
1 Point - Joe Galuvao

MANLY SEA EAGLES (22)
Tries: Steve Matai (2), Michael Robertson, Michael Oldfield
Conversions: Daly Cherry-Evans (2/4)
Penalty Goals: Daly Cherry-Evans (1/1)

PENRITH PANTHERS (16)
Tries: Timana Tahu, Nigel Plum, David Simmons
Conversions: Michael Gordon (2/3)

LeagueUnlimited.com Live Commentary Good Evening and welcome to Brookvale Oval for the kick off to round 7 with a clash between the Penrith Panthers and the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles. In the Toyota Cup game earier tonight Penrith took out the game 38 - 24
TEAM NEWS: For Manly Brett Stewart is out again with a hamstring strain, William Hopoate will fill in at fullback and Michael Oldfield in jumper 18 takes the vacated wing position. No changes for Penrith with Yilleen Gordon dropping off the extended bench.
1 min: Cherry-Evans kicks off and we are underway.
1 min: Strong opening set from Penrith sees Walsh boot the ball out from halfway, it goes over the dead ball line for a Manly 20 metre restart.
2 min: High kick from Foran is lost by Earl, chance for Manly to attack.
3 min: Knock on and Penrith get the ball back on their own tryline.
3 min: Walsh kicks through the line and Hopoate is forced to play at it.
4 min: PENALTY to Manly, Hopoate hit high tryign to get the ball out.
5 min: Oldfield makes half a break, but an unload is intercepted by Jennings for Penrith.
5 min: PENALTY against Manly, Watmough put a little too much in the tackle, great attacking opportunity for Penrith here.
7 min: Walsh bombs on the last and we could have a TRY here - VIDEO REFEREE to adjudicate.
7 min: NO TRY - goal line drop out, Penrith still on the attack.
8 min: PENALTY to Penrith for Manly offside, more great attacking field position.
9 min: Some sensational try saving tackles from Manly in this set and Penrith are forced to hand it over on the last.
10 min: Manly struggle out of their own territory and Cherry-Evans forced to kick out of his own half.
11 min: PENALTY number three to Penrith who have had all the attacking play so far in this match.
12 min: Waterhouse loses the ball in a great tackle from Lyon - scrum to Manly 10 out.
13 min: PENALTY to Manly to help them out of their territory and a good kick for the line helps them over halfway.
14 min: Solid attacking set from Manly, including a huge dummy from Cherry-Evans which almos fooled himself, but a Robertson knock on ends the raid.
15 min: Forward pass from Kingston and another good opportunity for Manly to attack.
17 min: TRY
TRY to Manly! Cherry-Evans cut out ball for Lyon puts Oldfield over to score in the corner. Conversion from Cherry-Evans unsuccessful.
Manly Sea Eagles 4-0
17 min: Waiting for a ball out there...
18 min: A ball finally arrives and play is back.
19 min: Strong boot from Cherry-Evans at the end of an ordinary set forces Penrith to play it out from their ten.
19 min: Walsh also forced to kick inside his half finds some grass before Robertson brings it back.
20 min: PENALTY to Manly for a late flop on the halfway line, geat opportunity for Manly to attack again.
21 min: Glenn Stewart knocks on about 5 metres out and the try goes begging.
22 min: PENALTY number four to Penrith, to help them to Manly's side of halfway.
23 min: Manly ruled to have knocked on in an intercept attempt 15 out from the Manly line. Real chance for Penrith here.
24 min: PENALTY number 5 to the Panthers who have been camped in Manly's 20 for the last few minutes.
25 min: Great leap from Hopoate cleans up a Walsh bomb after a superb defensive set from the Eagles on their own line.
26 min: Hopoate was trapped in goal for a line drop out so Manly still have some defensive work to do.
27 min: Aerial contest and there might be a TRY - VIDEO REFEREE to adjudicate.
27 min: NO TRY, Simmons ruled to have knocked on.
28 min: Manly attack matching their defence, superb kick from Foran and superb chase from Manly.
29 min: Sandor Earl makes a mistake playing the ball Manly to get a scrum 10 out.
30 min: TRY
TRY to Manly, Steve Matai gets the ball from the back of the scrum and runs in to scores what is a sofrt try. Easier conversion for Cherry-Ecans who nails it.
Manly Sea Eagles 10-0
31 min: PENALTY to Manly, who have all the momentum.
32 min: Foran's kick too big and goes out the sideline on the fly to let Manly off the hook.
33 min: PENALTY to Penrith who get an extra ten on top for backchat.
34 min: Jennings drops it to invite Manly back.
35 min: Cherry-Evans goes for a 40/20 and it just misses going out on the fly to give Penrith some more good field position.
37 min: Messy end to the set, the adjudication is a knock on in goal from Robertson to be the first mistake an Penrith get a line drop out.
40 min: TRY
TRY to Penrith! Panthers finally find a way over. A team effort gets Simmons over to score in the corner. Conversion attempt from Gordon unsuccessful.
Manly Sea Eagles 10-4
40 min: And there's the siren, Manly's defence has dominated this opening 40, Penrith with most of the ball were only able to score in the dying stages of the half going into the interval with Manly leading 10 - 4.
41 min: Time back on.
41 min: First error of the second half, Rose fails to catch a ball and Penrith are invited to have another shot at the Manly line.
42 min: PENALTY to Penrith, their first of the second half in their first attacking set.
43 min: Referee gives a scrum feed to Penrith, appears to be ruling Lyon to have knocked on...
44 min: Great boot from Walsh, but Fatiaki knocks it on n goal to hand the ball over.
47 min: TRY
TRY to Manly! A great last tackle length of the field team play from Manly puts Matai in to score his second. Cherry-Evans converts.
Manly Sea Eagles 16-4
52 min: Apologies for some technical issues, Manly have just been awarded a penalty to put them on the attack.
54 min: Manly raid is ended and Penrith hitting up hard.
57 min: Teams looking more evenly matched now, but the Manly lead puts them well ahead at this stage in the game.
59 min: VIDEO REFEREE for a possible Manly TRY.
59 min: NO TRY - scrum to Penrith.
61 min: Manly's backrow has been doing well blunting Penrith's attack and the back line having a great night diffusing any aerials.
63 min: Bad kick from Cherry-Evans out on the fly handing it over to Penrith.
64 min: Glenn Stewart kicks for Manly and a real challenge for Penrith.
65 min: Penrith not offering much with ball in hand and Manly just coasting with this lead.
68 min: A chance for Manly to go 13 ahead, but they fail to take it.
69 min: PENALTY against Penrith in attack, a play the ball penalty against Waterhouse.
69 min: PENALTY GOAL
And Manly take the 2, and Cherry-Evans gets them with the boot.
Manly Sea Eagles 18-4
73 min: TRY
TRY to Manly. Another team effort, great communication gets Michael Robertson over. Cherry-Evans misses the shot at goal.
Manly Sea Eagles 22-4
76 min: TRY
TRY to Penrith! A nice little grubber kick from Walsh in Penrith territory and Penrith put on a long range try with Jennings doing the leg work to put Tahu in to score. Conversion from Gordon successful.
Manly Sea Eagles 22-10
78 min: Looks like too little too late from Penrith who have struggled to produce what it takes against some sensational Manly defence.
80 min: TRY
TRY to Penrith! Right on the siren, not enough to snatch the game but Nigel Plum scores. Offload, some quick hands and Waterhouse does beautifully to offload on to Plum to score. Gordon converts to give a respecatble scoreline.
Manly Sea Eagles 22-16
80 min: With that try, Manly take the game by only 6, winning 22 - 16.