By Chris W.B

In a real grudge match, North Sydney clashed with Manly, with many players having ‘jumped ship’ at Manly only twelve months ago. Rival coaches David McElroy (North Sydney) and Kermitt Krockett QC (Manly) had plenty of well-documented arguments before the match, which had a big crowd on hand as Manly looked to emulate their 2000 success.

Both sides started the game fired up, with Mark O’Meley and Darren Smith delivering former team-mates without concern for their health. Plenty of sting in defence meant that attack was limited early on, and neither side looked threatening with the ball in hand. Safety sets with planned kicks couldn’t crack either line, but a freakish blind flick-pass from Stacey Jones in the 8th minute put Brendon Reeves in the corner. Rogers missed the conversion, meaning Manly lead 4-0.

Manly began to make inroads in the North Sydney defence, obviously tired from their epic extra time victory over Gold Coast, before Tim Horan snatched a long Jones pass to race ninety metres and score a try against the run of play. Marc Stcherbina chased admirably, forcing Horan to ground it out wide, and the resulting conversion was missed by ‘The Rock’ Daryl Halligan to leave it at 4 apiece.

Mat Rogers put his side up 6-4 a few minutes later care of some offside markers and increased the lead again in the 26th after Mark O’Meley performed a little extra work around the ruck. In the 30th and 32nd, Halligan pegged back with penalties of his own to lock things up at eight all again. Neither side was adventurous in the last ten, with the defence cooling down as a result of warnings from referee Adam Mills, and attack stagnating as players began to tire.

The second half started as the first finished, but it was Manly who provided some spark in the 50th, an adventurous run on the last play almost providing dividends as Logan Swann came achingly close to scoring. Some desperate defence from Anthony Quinn saved North Sydney, the ball turned over on the last.

Both sides exchanged promising sets, with good strong defence keeping out tries in all cases. Tim Horan showed plenty of class throughout, providing some scintillating play as he sought to lead his side to a victory in his last year of competition. In the 63rd, Halligan found himself in space, but lacked the speed to outrun even Awen Guttenbiel. Toeing the ball ahead, Halligan hoped for a good bounce, but instead found the arms of Mat Rogers. The Queensland winger streaked down the sideline, before a short inside ball put Awen Guttenbiel in under the sticks for Manly to lead 14-8.

Manly played safe football as the game wore down, whilst North Sydney began throwing caution to the wind as they sought another miracle victory. The miracle came in the 76th minute, veteran hooker Geoff Toovey busting through the line before putting Halligan over in the corner. Halligan had plenty of pressure to land his goal, but did it without hesitation, locking things up with only minutes to go.

Both sides attempted field goals late, with Stacey Jones hitting an upright and Geoff Toovey barely leaving the ground. The full-time siren went, and the crowd settled in for extra time. The North Sydney players looked confident leaving the field, undoubtedly due to their experience last week in Queensland’s sweltering spring heat.

EXTRA TIME
North Sydney received the kick-off, and their forwards set about rucking the ball out in preparation for a possible Kimmorley field goal. However, on the fourth, as the ball sailed towards Kimmorley, Smith raced up off the line and charged the kick down, giving possession to Manly. The Cannons then emulated North Sydney’s play, making only eleven metres in three tackles. However, a spear-like tackle out on the wings gave away a penalty, and Rogers had a fifty metre shot to snatch a victory. The crowd hushed as he lined it up, and Rogers struck it after several minutes of contemplation, probably to give his players time to rest. With the wind at his back, Rogers made no mistake, the penalty sailing over to give Manly a 16-14 win after only 1 minute of official play. The Manly players were ecstatic, whilst North Sydney left dejected.

MANLY: 16
Awen Guttenbiel
Brendon Reeves
Rogers 4/5
Def.
NORTH SYDNEY: 14
Tim Horan
Daryl Halligan
Halligan 3/4

PoM Points
Tim Horan 3
Brendon Reeves 2
Daryl Halligan 1