Farah double sets up Tigers win against Manly

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Wests Tigers v Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles

Robbie Farah scored two brilliant solo tries against an ill-disciplined Manly side to get the Tigers 2019 campaign off to a winning start.

13,159 fans braved the dour weather at Leichhardt Oval to watch the Tigers put on a much improved second-half, to stroll away to a comfortable 20-6 win.

The first half was played with constant rain falling, which saw the handling of both sides be less than average.

The Tigers had the glut of field position for much of the first half, but couldn't trouble the scorers. Manly looked more threatening at times to the end of the first half, despite their limited opportunities inside the Tigers half, but again poor execution let them down.

A penalty goal to Daly Cherry-Evans just inside the half hour mark gave Manly the only scoring play of the half and a 2-0 lead at the break.

The weather cleared up when play resumed and it was the Tigers who showed better discipline with the ball in hand.

3 minutes into the half and Esan Marsters kicked a penalty goal to level the scores. From the restart, Manly's kick-off went out on the full thanks to a smart play by Mahe Fonua, who had the presence of mine to put his foot into touch before fielding the ball.

From the following set, Robbie Farah chased through a grubber kick, which hit a Manly defender, and he dived on it to score under the posts for the first try of the game. Marsters converted from in-front to give the Tigers an 8-2 lead.

Ten minutes later, Luke Garner found space on the left edge, he dummied left and then sliced through the defence to run around and score under the posts. Marsters again added the extras.

In the 65th minute, Farah scored a second try, when he drifted left from dummy half. The defence hung off him and the rake sliced through two defenders and slammed the ball down. Marsters added the extras and the Tigers lead 20-2.

Manly scored a consolation try on the full-time siren, when Elgey set up a good play down the left wing which resulted in Taufua scoring in the corner. Cherry-Evans was unable to convert and the Tigers won, despite a scrappy start, by 20-6.