2nd Grade: April 12 - that's how far back you had to go to witness John Kelly as happy as he was last Saturday.

The Colin Caird Shield boss had every right to be pleased after watching his team dispose of a tough Uni outfit 24-13.

A beaming Kelly said: "That's the best game we've played since Randwick in round three.

"We played with intelligence and patience. I gave the guys a set of instructions and we followed it through.

"It shows you've got to work for it and if you're intelligent with the football and keep the pressure on the opposition - that's where you get your tries from.

"Our kicking game was excellent and defensively we were great.

"It was a terrific effort. I just hope the guys realise how good they can be."

Despite playing with 14 men for 10 minutes, Manly repelled just about everything the Students through at them.

The visitors also managed to come up with four tries in recording an all-too-rare bonus point triumph.

"Not getting the bonus point has been our Achilles heel. It has kept us out of the top two even though we've got the same win-loss record as the other two," Kelly pointed out.

Asked for his best player, Kelly said there were simply too many stand-outs to single out one person.

"Anthony Bergelin, Matt Hopper and Steve Gilbert were outstanding," he started.

"Adam Donkin at full-back was an absolute rock. He was cool and calm in everything he did.

"Dave Kennett the last two weeks has lifted to second grade level and is one of the outstanding contributors.

"Lee Griffith was so solid in everything he did. Zain Kader had his best game of the year, our scrum was dominant and Matt Bell on the wing was outstanding.

"There were so many good ones out there that I can't pick just one."

The win maintains Manly's third-place position ahead of Saturday's trip to Forshaw.

3rd Grade: While John Kelly walked around Uni Oval with a large grin and a sweet-tasting cold beer, dejected Henderson Shield coach Adam MacDonald looked like he'd lost his favourite toy.

His mood was understandable considering the Marlins had done everything right to lead the Students 8-0 at the break before falling in a heap to lose 14-8.     

"The first half was outstanding. We were leading 8-0 at half-time and were in full control and then shut down," MacDonald lamented.

"Silly mistakes, no urgency. You can only do so much as a coach.

"I'm shattered. We were dominating in attack and defence and in the second half we didn’t show up.

"We were ball watching. We prepared well, the enthusiasm was there to start with but they can’t carry it on for 60 minutes."

Full-back Cameron Cole earned praise for his solid display, while fly-half Sam Lloyd-Green also did some nice things.

The loss has seen Manly slip to fourth.

4th Grade: Apologising in advance for the cliché, coach Chris Smith declared after his team's 10-0 defeat: "It was the loss we had to have."

He went on to explain: "We've been playing average football the last few weeks and getting away with the wins.

"Against a quality side like Sydney Uni we couldn't afford to do that.

"But we're not too disappointed with the result because we learnt a lot out of it and now realise this competition is not easy as we thought.

"Going forward I think it will be a good thing for us. It's a bit of wake-up call."

No. 8 Marcus Betts earned praise for his non-stop display while inside centre Nick Hall was also outstanding.

Despite the loss, the Marlins remain in second spot.