Semi final aspirations remain on track

THE Manly Marlins produced their best defensive performance of the season to score a crucial 17-7 Shute Shield win over Eastern Suburbs on Tuesday night.

Marlins winger Richard Hooper against Easts.

THE Manly Marlins produced their best defensive performance of the season to score a crucial 17-7 Shute Shield win over Eastern Suburbs at Manly Oval on Tuesday night.

The victory keeps the team very much alive in the fiercely contested race for a finals spot.

While Easts had 90 per cent of the ball in the second half, they found it virtually impossible to break through the wall of blue jerseys that stood in front of them.

Manly got away to a 17-0 halftime lead after two tries to winger Richard Hooper and two conversions and a penalty to five-eighth Sam Lane.

Hooper’s second try was a beauty when centre Dennis Pili-Gaitau kicked through a dropped Easts ball, picked it up on the bounce and then sent a flying Hooper on his way to the line.

But it ended up being the team’s committed tackling after the break that sealed the victory.

Even though Easts dominated possession and territory over that second 40 minutes, they only managed to cross for one try.

The influence of Waratahs halfback Matt Lucas was clearly evident and he lifted the Manly players around him.

He led by example as he chopped the legs away from much bigger rivals with copybook tackles, just as he did when he steered the team into last year’s grand final. And besides his tries, Hooper’s defence out wide stopped a number of Easts attacking raids translating into points.

Marlins club stalwart Ryan Melrose.

“It would have been nice to score a few tries to get a bonus point, but to keep them to just seven points was a pretty good effort,” Manly coach Damien Cummins said.

Cummins pointed out that there was one period when his team did not have the ball and were camped in their own territory for 20 minutes.

“The past few weeks we have done a fair bit of work on our defence because it has been poor,” Cummins said.

And it paid dividends because leading into the Easts clash, Manly had been conceding an average of 26 points per game.

“I think as a group we trusted ourselves and there was a belief in our defence because the guys know what we are doing,” Cummins said.

After beating Parramatta last Saturday and Easts in their deferred game on Tuesday, the Marlins back up again on Saturday against Southern Districts at Manly Oval.

The heavy schedule means that the team will be largely concentrating on recovery heading into the Souths game.

Neighbours Warringah take on Parramatta at Pittwater Rugby Park this Saturday from 3.10pm.