Manly prevail in entertaining clash

Manly have prevailed in an old fashioned game of football 12-8 in a tough contest enjoyed by 13,832 fans at Centrebet Stadium.

It's been a case of defence ruling attack this afternoon, with Manly and Penrith both up for the contest in good conditions. Manly were first on the board, with Jamie Lyon refusing to be tackled and wasn't judged to be tackled by Lachlan Coote to score.

Penrith continued to get penalties, allowing them good field position but Manly every time the call was put up, defended their try line stoutly to take us to a 6-0 scoreline at oranges.

The second half, was even with some silly errors gifting Manly field possession and they looked dangerous with each set building up but Penrith repelled them to stay in the game.

Matthew Bell gave a good short ball to Lachlan Coote who got Penrith on the scoreboard after 51 minutes. Burns had a shocker with the conversion, leaving Manly with a narrow lead.

Once again, it was one of Manly's star players who got them across the stripe, with Brett Stewart skipping out of a few feeble tackle attempts before passing to Kieran Foran who scored in his 50th game for Manly. Lyon converted and even at eight points it seemed a bridge too far.

A consolation try to Penrith right at the death, kept the scoreline close but Travis Burns declined the kick and then Penrith dropped it from the kick-off, giving Manly a well earned 12-8 victory, keeping a gap on third position.

Match Details
Penrith Panthers 8 were defeated by Manly Sea Eagles 12
National Rugby League - Round 20 - Sunday July 24, 2011 3:00pm
Venue: Centrebet Stadium Penrith
Referee: Shayne Hayne and Ben Cummins
Video Referee: Bernard Sutton
Touch Judges: Daniel Eastwood and Ricky MacFarlane
Crowd: 13,832
Halftime: Penrith Panthers 0 Manly Sea Eagles 6

Leagueunlimited.com players of the match:
3 Points - Jamie Lyon (1 Try, 2 Conversions)
2 Points - Brett Stewart
1 Point - Petero Civoniceva

PENRITH PANTHERS (8)
Tries: David Simmons, Lachlan Coote
Conversions: Travis Burns (0/2)

MANLY SEA EAGLES (12)
Tries: Jamie Lyon, Kieran Foran
Conversions: Jamie Lyon (2/2)

LeagueUnlimited.com Live Commentary Welcome to Centrebet Stadium, for this afternoon's contest between Penrith and Manly. Manly looking to extend their lead over third placed St George Illawarra while Penrith want to get above the log jam in the lower half of the eight.
Changes:

Penrith: Luke Lewis is out, Nathan Smith comes into the starting side with Matthew Bell coming onto the bench.

Manly: Anthony Watmough and Michael Robertson are out, replaced by Shane Rodney and Michael Oldfield respectively. Darcy Lussick comes onto the bench in 19.
Earlier in the Toyota Cup, it was a mauling by the Panthers, beating Manly 50 points to 16.
1 min: Both teams have entered the field of play, Penrith kick off and here we go!
3 min: Solid opening to the game, both teams getting to their kick.
5 min: First penalty to Penrith, high shot by Jamie Lyon.
7 min: Slippery here, as Burns loses the ball trying to offload.
8 min: Another penalty to Penrith, Manly refuse to get off the tackled player.
10 min: Shocker of a pass from Cherry-Evans puts it over the sideline.
11 min: Penalty Penrith again, this time from a blatant strip by Rodney.
15 min: Good tackle by Matai on Coote when he returned the ball.
20 min: Nathan Smith slices through and tries to pass it to support but it's a shocker that goes straight to Glenn Stewart who fumbles it. Scrum Penrith.
22 min: Penrith making in-roads here with Coote offloading to Burns but a good try-saver by the rival number one cuts him down. He gives away a professional foul, Penrith will go on the attack again.
23 min: Crossfield kick to Simmons, who offloads to Plum who has been everywhere thus far but he's dropped it. Great defence Manly.
24 min: Penalty for Manly, Kingston jumped the gun.
27 min: TRY
An inside pass from Stewart to Lyon who refuses to go down and is tackled by Coote? No! Referee never called held, so Lyon keeps running and opens the scoring this afternoon. Lyon converts his own try and it's 6-0.
Manly Sea Eagles 6-0
Checking if Manly have scored their second try, from a strip.
28 min: NO TRY! It was stripped in a forward motion by Manly, a sigh of relief there for Penrith.
30 min: A chip kick intended for Brett Stewart is taken by Coote who gets his side six again after a strip goes awry.
31 min: Penalty to Manly, for Tighe being offside.
33 min: Manly are looking very dangerous with their attack now, Coote saves the day. Lyon from the next tackle, drops it.
35 min: Penrith must think it's the last minute of last week's game again, throwing it around like there's no tomorrow but Waterhouse gives it straight to Manly! Cherry-Evans though runs the advantage and is bundled into touch.
37 min: Great defense again from Manly, Waterhouse taken over the sideline.
38 min: A lazy shepherd by Jennings who got in Tighe's way.
39 min: The brothers Stewart combine for a short ball to Brett but he drops it cold.
40 min: Penrith keep it alive again but they can't put the final touch on it, it's lost and that is halftime.
41 min: Here we go again, Penrith return the ball.
43 min: Nafe Seluini tries to do too many things at once, dropping it.
44 min: Manly almost get over for their second, with Stewart offloading to Hopoate who can't handle it.
49 min: Late tackle penalty, Matt Ballin with his hand on the ball.
50 min: Another penalty to Penrith, just on the try line.
51 min: TRY
Some good work from the front rower, Matthew Bell who gives a short pass to Coote who walks around to improve the position, almost forgets to put the ball down but he does. Burns with a shocker, misses.
Manly Sea Eagles 6-4
52 min: Dear oh dear, Penrith lose it from the kick-off.
54 min: Goal line dropout here for Penrith, good defence by them in that set.
Checking the video to see what happened and who grounded the ball.
56 min: It's a goal line dropout, Walsh was driven back after taking the ball.
57 min: Penrith have done well, repelling Manly for three straight sets of six. Bell dived on the ball to get them back possession.
59 min: Offside penalty to Penrith, Manly were encroaching.
60 min: A line dropout here for Penrith from an unlikely source, Brad Tighe. The chase traps Oldfield in goal.
62 min: All the attacking momentum was with Penrith and Kevin Kingston drops it from dummy-half.
67 min: TRY
Brett Stewart skips out of one tackle, finds open space and offloads to Foran who scores in his 50th game for the club. Lyon from besides the post, converts.
Manly Sea Eagles 12-4
69 min: Fortuitous penalty for Penrith, on last against Glenn Stewart.
70 min: Fumble again by the Panthers, letting Manly off the hook.
72 min: Coote tries to conjure something for the Panthers but Brent Kite collars him and takes him into touch.
73 min: Forward pass to Galuvao, can Penrith score and make a game of this?
74 min: Penalty to Penrith will give them field posession, can they convert to give us a grandstand finish.
75 min: Another set to Penrith, from a grubber which is batted dead by Manly.
76 min: Another drop-out. Penrith are running out of time and their time is now.
78 min: Penrith just aren't troubling Manly, they get a third repeat set but have shown nothing.
Checking if David Simmons has scored..
79 min: TRY
Penrith put through another grubber and finally get a result! Simmons swoops on and scores. Burns declines the kick.
Manly Sea Eagles 12-8
80 min: Horrible pass and that is all she wrote, Manly win 12-8 full-time.