Dragons win ugly against sloppy Sea-Eagles

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Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles v St George Illawarra Dragons

The Dragons unconvincing attack from start to finish was saved entirely by the magnificent performance of winger Tyrell Sloan, who scored two brilliant tries to secure a Dragons victory.

Manly's attack was a sputtering mess in the first half, combining unimaginative attack with copious handling errors in prime attacking position. The second half saw rookie fullback Lehi Hopoate involved more and it immediately enhanced Manly's play.

Neither side threatened to breach their opponents defences in the opening 19 minutes, until Clint Gutherson attracted 2 defenders on the right side, then sent a basketball-style pass over the top to Sloan who scored untouched in the corner. Valentine Holmes converted.

The rest of the half was littered with errors and mistakes galore and neither side getting any real advantage over the other. Just before halftime, Holmes landed a penalty goal and at halftime, the Dragons had an 8-0 lead.

A Manly attacking raid on the Dragons line in the 46th minute resulted in the home side dropping the ball. Sloan picked it up and race 93 metres to score a brilliant try. Holmes converted.

Manly struck back just two minutes later when Hopoate produced a gorgeous draw and pass out wide to Jason Saab, who then found space, drew the fullback before turning the ball inside to Tolutau Koula in support, who raced away to score. Reuben Garrick converted.

A heavy tackle just five minutes later resulted in Matt Feagai being helped from the field with a leg injury and Toafofoa Sipley being sent to the sin bin. From the ensuing penalty, the Dragons turned the ball over on the very first tackle. Then the Dragons gave away a penalty on Manly's first tackle. The Sea-Eagles made the smart decision to take the shot at penalty goal - Garrick landing the goal to reduce the margin to 6 points.

Two minutes later, Manly put together a nice passing passage in order to get the ball to Hopoate. He slipped through the defensive line and then passed inside to Ben Trbojevic who raced away to score under the posts. Garrick converted to level the scores.

Just past the hour mark of the game, the Dragons opted to run on the last. The ball went to Jacob Liddle who shaped to pass to his right, but held the ball, stepped the defender and then forced his way over the line for a good solo try. Holmes converted.

In the 67th minute Daly Cherry-Evans put up a perfectly weighted kick to his right winger and Saab outleaped his opposite, to take the ball cleanly and score in the corner. Garrick's sideline conversion ever so narrowly missed.

Three minutes later, Luke Brooks put up a bomb, which was allowed to bounce. Brooks followed through, regathered and scored under the posts, only for the try to be disallowed because one of his team mates was offside.

With just under three minutes remaining in the game, Cherry-Evans attempted to kick a 2 point field goal, but it sailed just wide of the mark. The Dragons held on to win 20-18.