Sea Eagles 18 Dragons 20
TALK about sinking the boot in. Dragons five-eighth Jamie Soward missed a few pressure conversions but came up with the plays when it counted.
Two of the Dragons' tries came from his boot and he potted the final conversion to give his side successive wins for the first time in almost a year.
You'd have to think the Sea Eagles would have won had the game gone into golden-point time. It was tit-for-tat for its entirety. Dragons, then Manly, then Dragons, then Manly, then Dragons, then Manly and finally the Dragons. Which was no surprise really.
Both sides had much to prove. Manly have slipped quietly into second place and had failed to receive much acknowledgement from the representative selectors. The Dragons have been slipping somewhere else this year but were looking to prove that their mini-renaissance of late was more than just a false dawn. The fact they had failed to win two in a row since July last year suggests there have been a few of those. Still, the Dragons were first to score last night, through Beau Scott; an early knockout blow. A minute before Scott crashed over, Anthony Watmough clashed heads with his teammate Josh Perry. Not a Manchester kiss but a Manly kiss.
Watmough was groggy, and Scott quickly found him, easily brushing off Watmough's grab to give the Dragons a boost from the accidental butt.
The Sea Eagles aren't used to being beaten at Brookvale, and Watmough isn't used to being embarrassed defensively, and they only needed eight minutes to make up for the early lapse. First, Watmough reacted incredibly for someone who had been punch drunk earlier to take a slips catch from Soward's kick. It indirectly, via a few penalties, led to Manly's return serve, which was a lovely play. Halfback Matt Orford, one of several Sea Eagles who could not force their way into the NSW side, took an old-fashioned wraparound before fullback Brett Stewart sent a newly fashioned flick to winger David Williams, who finished nicely.
Another eight minutes passed, so it must be time for the Dragons' response. Soward sent up a well-weighted kick and his halves partner, Ben Hornby, followed through on Sea Eagles winger Michael Robertson's mistake to score. But after bombing for that try, Soward bombed the next; he missed Steve Menzies badly, and the Manly veteran took full advantage.
After his last try, Menzies said he only scored from 12 metres or less these days. Sure enough, his 169th first-grade try came from 11; not his most important four-pointer but critical at least to give the Sea Eagles the lead at half-time.
And then two critical decisions. First, the Dragons were awarded a penalty well after Steve Matai took out Soward late. Soward had sent a pass, when Matai, who was sent off for a high shot on Dragon Mark Gasnier in the October Test last year, collected the five-eighth. This was not high, however it was certainly late. Not to mention unnecessary.
On a touch judge's report after the play had broken down just a few metres from the Manly line, play was brought back 50 metres, but the Dragons quickly found their way back in enemy territory.
Soward kicked, Jason Nightingale and Josh Morris leapt, and, despite the hint of a knock-on, Nightingale was given the benefit of the doubt.
Menzies had another chance to score an 11-metre special, however, he lost the ball over the line, admittedly under pressure. It happened after 66 minutes. Missing a digit but still a devil's number for Menzies.
No matter - Robertson leapt over his opposite, Chase Stanley, and did well to score under more pressure than Menzies, and the Sea Eagles were back in front.
It looked like that was it for the visitors. However, Brett Morris scored after being sent over by his twin brother Josh. Soward had the pressure conversion with five minutes left. After missing a simple attempt first-up, his nerves were pumping. Afterwards, he joked his mates wanted him to go on Dancing with the Stars because of his frenetic, eccentric run-up. Maybe not, but the Dragons will at least be dancing for another week.
ST GEORGE ILLAWARRA 20 (B Hornby, B Morris, J Nightingale, B Scott tries; J Soward 2 goals) bt MANLY 18 (S Menzies, M Robertson, D Williams tries; M Orford 3 goals) at Brookvale Oval. Referee: J Robinson. Crowd: 12,058.
