Manly dominant but Scrappy over Roosters

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Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles v Sydney Roosters

There might not have been a big finish like last night but the Manly Sea Eagles have been able to edge themselves to a 21-14 victory over the Sydney Roosters.

The opening forty minutes might have looked close on the scoreboard with the Sea Eagles taking a two point lead but it could have been so much more for the home side. The first try to Manly came with a fair bit of controversy with opinions on divided whether James Tedesco was unfairly taken out in the air by Tom Trbojevic whilst contesting and losing the ball for it to end up with Lachlan Croker to score.

Hitting back soon after, the Roosters found space when they really shouldn't have as an attacking raid down the short side netted them a four pointer through Daniel Tupou.

Counter-attacking football netted the Sea Eagles their second try as a loose ball from the Roosters in their own end was swooped upon and Tolu Koula found space on the outside of the tricolours defence and he went over in the corner. The Roosters were able to again hit back when Luke Keary, Sitili Tupouniua and ultimate James Tedesco combined when Keary went outside before a quick ball from Tupouniua sent the Roosters captain to score.

A penalty goal on the stroke of half time gave the Sea Eagles a deserved 12-10 lead at the break.

The start to the second half was pure dominance from the Sea Eagles as they found themselves in good field position and they scored inside two minutes when Tommy Talau got through four defenders to score. The bunker knocked back two try efforts from the Sea Eagles ruling that Haumole Olakau'atu was held short of the line initially then a second effort was given by referee Todd Smith but eventually overturned by the bunker for a knock-on.

The overturn from the bunker was a big reprieve for the Roosters who were able to keep the scoreline within reach and Dom Young closed it back to 18-14 when he was able to get a touch on a long ball from the Sea Eagles and James Tedesco cleaned it up before finding Dom Young who had the speed to score.

Despite being back in the contest, The Roosters looked as if they were still a step behind and a Reuben Garrick penalty goal was able to push the margin out to six before with seven minutes to go DCE kicked a 1 pointer for the ultimate 7 point gap.

Next week, Manly have another Sunday afternoon battle as they head to Parramatta to take on the Eels whilst  the Roosters will be sweating on the health of Luke Keary who left the field late into the game through the HIA ahead of their Friday night battle against arch-rivals Souths