They were heavily favoured to win but the Newcastle Knights fought for every inch to secure a 28-18 victory over a gallant Manly Sea Eagles outfit on Sunday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Missing their big three of Daly Cherry-Evans and Tom and Jake Trbojevic, the Sea Eagles jumped to an early 8-0 lead at McDonald Jones Stadium and pushed the Knights up until full-time despite their key absences.
With Kalyn Ponga back at fullback and Tyson Gamble at five-eighth, Newcastle took a while to find their groove but after trailing 14-10 at the break, they scored four tries in the second half to claim a much-needed win in front of 20,661 fans.
The victory lifted the Knights into 12th position, behind Manly on for-and-against, ahead of a bye next round.
"Yep, four points. That was important," a clearly relieved Knights coach Adam O'Brien said.
"They're hard games, them ones, because everyone looks at who is out for the opposition. Including the team, let's be honest.
"Credit to the opposition, they would have talked all week about putting in a tonne of effort without their Origin players, and I thought they did that.
"They scrambled, they held us up like four times over the line or something like that.
"They're dangerous games."
Ponga looked set for another early exit when he took a heavy hit returning a kick five minutes in, but he surprisingly wasn't sent for a head-injury assessment.
A few minutes later, his head collected Manly fullback Kaeo Weekes' knee but again a HIA wasn't ordered.
He was involved in plenty of play early in the contest but it was his pass that allowed Manly to score the first try when Josh Schuster took an intercept near halfway and put winger Reuben Garrick away in the 13th minute.
The Sea Eagles took an 8-0 lead three minutes later from a penalty kick after Ponga failed to kick a goal-line dropout 10 metres.
Newcastle blew two try-scoring chances midway through the first half. Bradman Best was held up over the tryline and Lachlan Fitzgibbon was penalised for a double-movement.
Greg Marzhew eventually crossed in the 30th minute, winding up from 10 metres out and barging over. Two minutes later, Best scored their second after Tyson Gamble found space and started a 50-metre break.
Manly hit back three minutes before half-time when skipper Lachlan Croker pounced on a loose ball and scored under the goalposts, helping secure a 14-10 lead.
Newcastle built some pressure after the break and Marzhew scored in the 49th and 51st minutes to claim a hat-trick.
Manly levelled at 18-all in the 61st minute when winger Jason Saab took an intercept and ran 80 metres, but the visitors lost Tolutau Koula to the sin-bin for high contact on Ponga a few minutes later.
Phoenix Crossland scored a few plays later to give Newcastle a 24-18 advantage before Dominic Young sealed the result with a breakaway 90-metre try in the 75th minute.
MORE IN SPORT
WHAT DO YOU THINK? Join the discussion in the comment section below.
Find out how to register or become a subscriber here.
