Sea Eagles make it five straight

The Manly Sea Eagles have registered their fifth win in a row after finishing strongly against a depleted, but gallant Gold Coast Titans 34-14 in front 21,374 fans at Skilled Park on Friday night.

Despite going into this match minus injured stars Scott Prince, Luke Bailey and Ashley Harrison, the Titans performed admirably in a first-half that saw them trail by only six points against the near full-strength competition leaders.

The Titans, led by tireless second-rower Anthony Laffranchi, carried their impressive form into the second 40 minutes, jumping out to a 14-12 lead at one stage before Manly stormed home in the final 17 minutes, scoring four unanswered tries.

The Titans have now lost five of their last six encounters, and without two of their best players in co-captains Prince and Bailey for the remainder of the season, face an uphill battle to maintain their precarious position in the top-eight.

Laffranchi quickly erased his Origin disappointment by crashing between two defenders to plant the ball down for the opening try of the night nine minutes in. Mat Rogers added the extras to give the hosts a 6-0 lead.

Manly's response was swift with Les Catalans-bound centre Steve Bell doing remarkably well to twist out of the defence from close-range to be awarded a 'ref's call' try after video referee Tim Mander could not make a definitive ruling on the evidence presented. Manly skipper Matt Orford's conversion leveled it up at 6-all after 14 minutes.

The Titans had several sets on the Sea Eagles' line in the next period of play, but without Prince to steer the ship lacked the finishing touches to turn pressure into points.

Then Steve Menzies, on a night that saw him become the game's second-most capped first-grader of all-time, took advantage of some fast-moving Titans' defence to dummy his way over from close-range for his 171st career try in the 32nd minute. Orford slotted the conversion from a sharp angle to put the Sea Eagles in front 12-6 - the eventual half-time scoreline.

Laffranchi's second try of the night was in stark contrast to his first - the Blues' Origin star simply cruising through a gaping hole in the Manly defence to score under the posts in the 52nd minute, leveling it up at 12-all.

The home side briefly hit the front again courtesy of a Rogers' penalty goal two minutes later before the Sea Eagles virtually stole the game with two tries in a four minute period.

The first came against the run of play when a well-directed Orford grubber was gathered in by winger Michael Robertson who found centre Jamie Lyon in support for a 63rd minute try.

This was quickly followed by rookie Manly winger David Williams racing almost the length of the field to score a stunning solo try after busting the tackle of Titans centre Luke O'Dwyer near his own line. Orford virtually sealed the result with the wide-range conversion to put Manly in front by 22-14.

Full-back Brett Stewart finished off his 100th first-grade game in style, scoring two dazzling tries in the final minutes to complete Manly's 20-point win.

A shoulder/rib injury suffered by Kiwi Test star Steve Matai in the first-half soured the result somewhat for the Sea Eagles.

Manly Sea Eagles 34
Tries: Stewart 2, Bell, Menzies, Lyon, D. Williams
Conversions: Orford 5

Gold Coast Titans 14
Tries: Laffranchi 2
Conversions: Rogers 2
Penalty goals: Rogers

Sportal's NRL Player of the Year:
3 - Steve Menzies (Sea Eagles)
2 - Anthony Laffranchi (Titans)
1 - Matt Orford (Sea Eagles)