17/05/2008 9:32:38 PM
The Manly Sea Eagles have overcome a slow start to register their fourth straight win after hammering a seriously undermanned North Queensland Cowboys outfit 38-6 at Bluetongue Stadium in Gosford on Saturday night.
The under strength Cowboys, minus brilliant full-back Matt Bowen to injury and Queensland Origin stars Johnathan Thurston, Carl Webb and Jacob Lillyman, showed plenty of commitment early on in defence to keep last year's grand finalists scoreless for the opening 33 minutes of the match.
But a 2-6 penalty count against them took it's toll with Manly interchange forward Adam Cuthbertson snaring a pair of tries in quick succession leading up to half-time to give his side a comfortable 12-0 lead at the break.
Without Thurston and Bowen in the line-up, the Cowboys simply had no bullets to fire in the second-half in the hope of pegging back the lead as Manly, missing just fullback Brett Stewart to NSW Origin duty and centre Steve Bell to injury, posted five tries-to-one as it cruised towards yet another win, cementing its position in the top-four.
The defeat means the 15th-placed Cowboys have now lost four games on the trot, which must place even more pressure on departing coach Graham Murray as he strives to see out the remainder of his contract at the club.
The Cowboys surprised all with their defence for most of the first half, but they could not repel the pressure of five straight penalties, which resulted in a wave of possession and field position for the Sea Eagles.
The hosts finally struck in the 34th minute when Test prop Brent Kite and interchange hooker Heath L'Estrange combined well up the middle to send Cuthbertson under the posts for the first of his two tries for the night. Skipper Matt Orford slotted the easy conversion to give the hosts a 6-0 lead.
When Cuthbertson bagged his second four-pointer a minute before the break, the Sea Eagles looked well on their way to a comfortable victory leading 12-0 at half-time.
Man-of-the-match Orford initiated the next try in the 50th minute, producing a neat short side grubber for centre Jamie Lyon to pick up and send rookie winger David Williams streaking over for his first ever NRL try after being denied the achievement earlier in the first-half.
But a leveling of the penalty count and a runaway converted try by centre Ben Farrar in the 54th minute did give the Cowboys a glimmer of hope at 6-16 behind before a barnstorming 63rd minute try by Manly prop Josh Perry in his 150th first-grade game sealed the deal for the home side.
Further tries to makeshift full-back Michael Robertson in the 72nd and 79th minutes and winger Nick Bradley-Qalilawa in the 76th ensured a big win for the Des Hasler's men.
The only negative for Manly was the sight of former NSW Origin second-rower Anthony Watmough limping from the field in the second half in what was his comeback match from a knee injury.
Manly Sea Eagles 38
Tries: Cutherbertson 2, Robertson 2, Williams, Perry,
Bradley-Qalilawa
Conversions: Orford 5
North Queensland Cowboys 6
Tries: Farrar
Conversions: Williams
Sportal's NRL Player of the Year:
3 - Matt Orford (Sea Eagles)
2 - Josh Perry (Sea Eagles)
1 - Adam Cuthbertson (Sea Eagles)