Storm 16 Sea Eagles 18
MELBOURNE - Manly claimed the scalp of NRL premiers Melbourne and stamped themselves as contenders with a hard-fought 18-16 win at Etihad Stadium last night.
The win elevated the Sea Eagles to a log-jam of NRL teams on eight points, two behind the leading Dragons, but left the Storm in unfamiliar territory.
They too are on eight points, however before kick-off they had only lost successive matches twice in 111 games, and they hadn't lost at the indoor stadium in their past eight fixtures.
The Storm kept Manly scoreless in the second half, while tireless halfback Cooper Cronk scored twice, but the 18-6 halftime deficit proved too much.
They were left to rue an easy conversion miss by Cameron Smith with 13 minutes remaining which could have ultimately levelled the match.
Melbourne were out-muscled and outclassed by their fierce rivals, who they ousted from last year's finals at the same venue 40-12, in the opening half.
Manly winger Michael Robertson was the first half star, scoring two trademark wingers' tries in the corner.
Further souring Melbourne's loss was an injury to test centre Greg Inglis, who damaged his ankle when he was tackled by Steve Matai late in the first half, while fellow centre Dane Nielsen was a second half casualty with a hand injury.
Inglis was assisted from the field and was later seen on the sidelines on crutches with medical staff diagnosing a high ankle sprain, although he will undergo scans today.
Manly dealt the first blow four minutes into the match as enterprising five-eighth Kieran Foran put up a neat bomb into the in-goal which skipper Jamie Lyon batted back into the waiting arms of lock Glenn Stewart.
The visitors continued to dominate early territory and possession, while Melbourne uncharacteristically struggled to hang on to the small amount of ball they did have.
Robertson's tries came within four minutes and were both scored in the same corner, with fullback Ben Farrar playing a role in both.
With Lyon successful with one conversion, the lead was out to 16-0.
Journeyman forward Bryan Norrie eventually got the home side onto the scoreboard when he ran onto a Brett Finch inside ball at the 30 minute mark, which Smith converted.
Melbourne lifted their completion rate in the second half but Manly's rock solid defence made them work hard for their points.
Cronk's tries in the 66th and 74th minutes set up a thrilling finale, but they were unable to find the extra points.
Manly 18 (M Robertson 2 G Stewart tries J Lyon 3 goals) bt Melbourne 16 (C Cronk 2 B Norrie tries C Smith 2 goals) at Etihad Stadium. Referee: Tony Archer, Alan Shortall. Crowd: 14,171.
- AAP
