Manly win both halves with no halves

The Manly Sea Eagles will hold first place on the ladder for at least another week after a solid 28-10 victory over a lacklustre Parramatta Eels side at Brookvale Oval tonight.

It was a shaky start to the match for the competition leaders, who not only conceded the first try to Parramatta hooker Mark Riddell, but were also forced to overcome the late withdrawal of halfback Matt Orford and an early injury to five-eighth Jamie Lyon. Their attack was understandably affected with a makeshift halves combination struggling to maintain any pressure, but their forwards continued to lay the platform before Matt Ballin was able to squeeze across to level the scores in the 28th minute.

From that point Manly lifted a couple of gears while Parramatta remained in neutral. Centre Steve Bell managed to bomb a try for the home side before half-time but redeemed himself by providing the final pass for the first of winger David Williams