A high-scoring, see-sawing contest on the Gold Coast has resulted in Manly secure a vital victory in an entertaining 34-30 victory over the lowly Gold Coast Titans.
Manly opened their account in just the fifth minute when they shifted the ball right to Tom Trbojevic who threw a dummy, a gap opened up and he walked in for a try. Reuben Garrick converted.
After some entertaining lead-up plays, Manly travelled close to the length of the field before again going right where a lovely cut-out pass put Jason Saab in for a try. Garrick failed to convert from touch. After 10 minutes, Manly lead 10-0.
The Titans finally responded in the 15th minute when a lobbed ball over the top to Alofiana Khan-Pereira allowed him to score in the left corner. Tanah Boyd converted superbly from touch.
The Titans levelled the scores in the 19th minute when Brian Kelly opened up the Manly edge defence, drew the fullback and then got a good ball to Khan-Periera who ran 32 metres to score his second try. Boyd from wide on the left again, converted and put the Titans in the lead.
Back-to-back set restarts for Manly inside the Titans red zone resulted in Manly taking the lead back when Daly Cherry-Evans turned Haumole Olakau'atu inside and the big bloke barged over for a strong try. Garrick converted.
The Titans wouldn't go away though and in the 32nd minute David Fifita stormed over to score. Boyd converted.
A Kieran Foran break was followed by him putting in a perfect banana kick back infield and AJ Brimson took it cleanly and scored a great try. Boyd converted.
On the stroke of halftime Manly's fullback Tom Trbojevic bagged his second try when he backed up on the inside and strolled in for a easy try. Garrick converted and at halftime the Titans held a 24-22 lead.
Manly regained the lead 6 minutes into the second half when Tolutau Koula took an intercept and raced 60 metres to score. Garrick converted.
In the 53rd minute, Brimson bounced out of two tackles, linked with Foran who then passed back out to Boyd in support who scored untouched. Boyd converted.
As per usual in this game, Manly immediately responded when Ethan Bullemor barged over for a tough try. Garrick converted.
Both sides began to tire in the final 20 minutes which saw neither side add any more points, errors crept into both sides performance, but in the end, Manly hung on to record a 34-30 victory