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2nd Grade match report vs Eastwood
2nd Grade: Eastwood 14/07/2012
On Saturday the Marlins travelled to TG Milner to face up against one of the leagues favourites, Eastwood. From the kick off, Manly were able to control the ball and put good pressure on the defensive line of the Woods. Manly gained a strong territorial position in the middle of the field and were rewarded with a penalty for side entry at the ruck. Corey Murphy then kicked the penalty goal to lead 3-0. Manly looked in control early, having one line of defence meeting the Woods over their advantage line. A missed passed from the Woods saw the ball on the ground and with some quick thinking, Manly kicked it along the ground and out to the sideline. This is where Cameron Cole with his blistering speed picked up the ball on the bounce and ran around to score the first try of the match. The conversion was missed, Manly lead 8-0 after 10 minutes.
The last twenty minutes of the first half saw Eastwood control the match and gain strong metres with some hard running. The Eastwood forwards were dominating their set piece, especially their scrum and were able to score a pushover try. Before too long Eastwood pressure showed with then crossing the white wash 3 time before half time. If it wasn’t for some great scrambling defence from Pete Gilmore, Alex Miles and Corey Murphy, Eastwood could have been further in front at half time.
Half time score – 15-8 Eastwood leading.
The second half was much the same as the last 10 minutes of the first half. Eastwood had the majority of the possession and territory, putting lots of pressure on the defensive line of the Marlins. Manly knew that with the ball they would do some damage, so the talk was all about patience and control. The pressure was too much for Manly with Eastwood scoring two tries out wide to extend their lead to 25-8.
A few changes were made and the replacements all made strong impact on the team. Especially Katoni Ali, Adam Crerar and Oli Samuelu creating smart plays to put Manly back in the game. Centre Pete Gilmore was a standout, always breaking the advantage line with his strong hard running style. Honouree mention must go to Cameron Cole, Daniel Alley and Max Wood who also played well. A credit must go to Manly who never gave up and with Oli Samuelu making a break up the middle and then passed it to Pete Gilmore who was running in support and ran to the line to score. The conversion was successful from Murphy making the final score 25-15 to Eastwood.