Souths hand Manly a thrashing

Fulltime score: Round 14 South Sydney Rabbitohs 44 v Manly Sea Eagles 6

Match summary:

South Sydney have thrashed the Manly Sea Eagles 44-6 at Aussie Stadium this evening.

The game is certainly a candidate for upset of the year, but Souths, on the back of their impressive performance against the Bulldogs last week, have followed that up with a flogging over one of the competitions front runners.

Manly were missing several players including Steve Menzies and Ben Kennedy, both on Origin duty while Brent Kite was missing through injury but Manly would still be expected to win over a side that was widely tipped to win the wooden spoon. If results go against Manly, they could take a small tumble down the table to fourth position with Parramatta and the Cowboys moving into the top three.

The win moves Souths further away from the wooden spoon and is a great lead in the June 30 player market as the Bunnies try and lure some of the games biggest names to Redfern and an impressive win tonight will do wonders for their cause.

Best for Souths were John Sutton and Adam Macdougall. Both players had excellent games while the whole Souths forward pack played as a tight knit unit. Manly were disappointing and must regroup as they face the Newcastle Knights at home next weekend.

Scorers: STH SYDNEY RABBITOHS Tries: Faalogo, Macdougall, Sutton, Watts, Rigon, Polglase, Gordon, Moran, Manuofakoa Goals: Sutton 1/3, Watts 3/6 MANLY SEA EAGLES Tries: Watmough Goals: Witt 1/1

Live commentary: 1st min: We are underway at Aussie Stadium this evening.

6th min: TRY - Manly. Anthony Watmough gets Manlys first try. Conversion successful. Manly 6-0.

11th min: TRY - Souths. David Faalogo gets a try for the Bunnies. Conversion unsuccessful. Manly 6-4.

14th min: TRY - Souths. Adam Macdougall pushes the Bunnies into the lead. Souths have shown great improvement over the past two weeks. Conversion unsuccessful. Souths 8-6.

27th min: TRY - Souths. John Sutton gets Souths third try and they are looking ominous and Manly are struggling without Kennedy and Menzies. Conversion successful. Souths 14-6.

35th min: No change in the score and Manly have plenty of work to do if they are going to win this one.

HALF TIME: Souths hold an eight point lead over Manly and are a chance at going on to win and get themselves further away from the bottom of the table. Manly are missing Menzies and Kennedy and it shows. They are nothing without thier two star forwards and plenty of question marks have arisen over their credentials.

41st min: We are underway in the second half.

45th min: No change to the scoer but Souths are getting through their sets of six error free. As the minutes tick by, the pressure mounts on Manly.

53rd min: TRY - Souths. Brad Watts extends Souths lead and now Manly have it all to do with 25 minutes to go. Conversion successful. Souths 20-6.

56th min: TRY - Souths. Shane Rigon puts the issue beyond doubt and Manly may drop down to fourth place after their heavy loss tonight. Conversion unsuccessful. Souths 24-6.

67th min: TRY - Souths. Tood Polglase puts the issue well and truly beyond doubt with antoehr try. Souths now hold an insurmountable lead with just over ten minutes remaining. Conversion successful. Souths 30-6.

71st min: TRY - Manly. It's a carve up now. Yileen Gordon gets in on the act as Manly go to pieces. Conversion unsuccessful. Souths 34-6.

74th min: TRY - Souths. Mick Moran gets a try and now it's getting embarrassing for Manly. They have been absolutely belted tonight. Conversion successful. Souths 40-6.

78th min: TRY - Souths. Manuokafoa scores anotehr as Souths ride the crest of the wave and Manly lament a massive loss and a battering to their for and against. Conversion unsuccessful. Souths 44-6.

FULL TIME: Souths have dished out a hiding to Manly, who have not been on the receiving end of a belting like this for some time. Souths have been impressive in recent weeks and lookd superb tonight. Back to the drawing board for Manly and this loss may prove costly at the business end of the season, not to mention the for and against problems tonight's loss raises. ----------------------------------------- Leagueunlimited.com players of the match: 3 - J Sutton (Souths) 2 - A Macdougall (Souths) 1 - M Minichiello (Souths) -----------------------------------------