Sea Eagles Victorious At
Brookvale

The Manly Sea Eagles have given their fans plenty of hope for season 2005 with a nail biting 30-28 victory over the finals bound Melbourne Storm at Brookvale Oval this afternoon.

Storm coach Craig Bellamy made five late changes in the lead up to today's game and must have been regretting it as the Storm went into halftime trailing 14-4.

But in the first 20 minutes of the second half, the Storm outscored the Sea Eagles three tries to one and looked to have the Sea Eagles measure going into the last quarter of the game.

But in the next 10 minutes the Sea Eagles were able to match the Storm try-for-try. Club stalwart Steve Menzies scored the 77th minute, Andrew Walker was successful with the conversion and the game belonged to the Sea Eagles.

Today's performance would have given the Sea Eagles faithful a lot of hope for next season, especially the efforts of Daniel Heckenberg who kept going all day and captain Michael Monaghan who defied a corked thigh to play out the second half and direct the Sea Eagles around the park.

For the Storm, they will still be a threat in the upcoming finals series with the most promising aspect of today's game being the performance of stand in halfback Cooper Cronk who was a threat at all times.

In other news from today's game Dragons bound Albert Torrens was placed on report for a forearm to the head of a Storm player and may have a case to answer at the judiciary for a dangerous throw on Storm captain Rodney Howe.

Brookvale Oval Referee: Steve Lyons

SEA EAGLES 30 Tries: Torrens 2, G Stewart, B Stewart, Donald, Menzies Goals: Walker 2/4, Williamson 1/2 defeated STORM 28 Tries: Bell 2, Hill 2, Cronk Goals: Smith 4/5

By the clock: Big news for the Storm as Billy Slater, Matt Orford and Robbie Kearns are being rested from today's game and Stephen Kearney and Kirk Reynoldson are late withdrawals due to injury.

0 min: Kick Off

7 min: News: Sea Eagles winger Scott Donald saves a possible try by taking his opposite number Matt King into touch.

10 min: Try-Sea Eagles: In his last game for the Sea Eagles Albert Torrens gets through a feeble attempted tackle by Alex Chan to score in the corner. Luke Williamson is unsuccessful with the conversion attempt. Sea Eagles 4-0.

16 min: Try-Sea Eagles: Second Rower Glenn Stewart scores under the posts after being put into a gap by halfback Michael Monaghan. Luke Williamson is successful with the conversion. Sea Eagles 10-0.

19 min: News: The Sea Eagles have the better of possession and completion rate.

20 min: News: Storm prop Alex Chan makes up for his earlier mistake in defence by coming up with a bellringer of a tackle on Sea Eagles centre Albert Torrens which forces the ball to come loose.

28 min: Try-Sea Eagles: Dragons bound centre Albert Torrens scores his second try of the afternoon after being on the end of a run around between Andrew Walker and Michael Monaghan. Andrew Walker has an absolute shocker with the conversion attempt. Sea Eagles 14-0.

34 min: Try-Storm: Steve Bell pounces on a grubber kick put in by Ben MacDougall to score the Storm's first try of the afternoon. Cameron Smith is unsuccessful with the conversion. Sea Eagles 14-4.

40 min: News: Sea Eagles halfback Michael Monaghan is unsuccessul with a field goal attempt.

Halftime Report: The Sea Eagle have dominated proceedings here in the first half but the Storm are still in it. If the Storm have any hope of winning today they will have to shut down Andrew Walker and Michael Monaghan as they are looking dangerous everytime they touch the ball.

Stat Attack: Leading Tackler: Dallas Johnson (Storm) Most Hit Ups: Daniel Heckenberg (Sea Eagles)

42 min: News: Sea Eagles captain Michael Monaghan is struggling with an injury.

45 min: Try-Storm: Stand in halfback Cooper Cronk spots a gap in the Sea Eagles defence to score next to the posts. Cameron Smith is successful with the conversion. Sea Eagles 14-10.

47 min: News: Sea Eagles prop Kylie Leuluai is penalised for being offside at the kick off.

49 min: Try-Sea Eagles: Sea Eagles fullback Brett Stewart pounces on a loose ball to score next to the posts. Andrew Walker is successful with the conversion attempt. Sea Eagles 20-10.

52 min: News: Storm centre Ben MacDougall is denied a try by the video referee after it is ruled that he was held over the line.

53 min: Try-Storm: Storm 5/8th Scott Hill gets through 2 Sea Eagles players to score and bring the Storm to within a converted try of the Sea Eagles. Cameron Smith is successful with the conversion. Sea Eagles 20-16.

58 min: Try-Storm: Storm centre Steve Bell runs onto a perfectly timed pass from David Kidwell to score and draw level with the Sea Eagles. Cameron Smith is successful with the conversion. Storm 22-20.

58 min: News: Sea Eagles centre Albert Torrens is placed on report for a forearm to the head of a Storm player.

60 min: News: Albert Torrens is penalised for a dangerous throw on Storm prop Rodney Howe.

66 min: Try-Sea Eagles: Scott Donald scores after jumping onto a perfectly placed cross field bomb by Andrew Walker. Walker is unsuccessful with the conversion. Sea Eagles 24-22.

69 min: News: Sea Eagles centre Paul Stephenson is denied a try by the video referee after it is ruled that he was in front of the kicker.

70 min: Try-Storm: Scott Hill scores to put the Storm back into the lead after being put into a gap by stand in halfback Cooper Cronk. Cameron Smith is successful with the conversion. Storm 28-24.

77 min: Try-Sea Eagles: Steve Menzies scores close to the posts to level the scores. Andrew Walker is successful with the conversion. Sea Eagles 30-28.

79 min: News: The Storm are penalised as the short kick off goes out on the full.

Fulltime Report: Despite the loss the Storm are still looking good for the upcoming finals series, for the Sea Eagles today's effort gives their fans plenty of hope for 2005 especially with the signatures of Brent Kite and Ben Kennedy for next season. ----------------------------------------- Leagueunlimited.com players of the match: 3 - D Heckenberg (Sea Eagles) 2 - M Monaghan (Sea Eagles) 1 - C Cronk (Storm) -----------------------------------------