Daly Cherry-Evans’ golden boot hands Manly famous extra time win over Melbourne
The golden boot of Daly Cherry-Evans has delivered Manly a stunning 11-10 victory over Melbourne late in the second period of extra time in an instant classic between two bitter rivals.
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A Daly Cherry-Evans field goal in the final minute of golden point handed Melbourne just their third loss of the season.
Manly cemented themselves as genuine premiership contenders with a gritty 11-10 win in Melbourne.
The match evoked memories of the intense battles between Melbourne and Manly which dominated the competition a decade ago.
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Brodie Croft and Cameron Smith missed field goal attempts in regulation time as did Sea Eagles halfback Daly Cherry-Evans.
Cameron Munster and Dylan Walker also missed with their golden point attempts hitting the posts before Croft’s next two attempts went wide.
Cherry-Evans slotted the 25 metre match winner with 45 seconds left on the clock.
“It’s a big effort to come to Melbourne and win,” Cherry-Evans told Fox League.
“When you continue to get written off it’s exciting to win like this. It’s a credit to our hard work. We haven’t achieved nothing yet. We have a lot of work left in us. The second half showed how good of a side Melbourne is.
“We have a tough run home but we are excited about the run home.”
Manly were given one last crack after a forward pass by Melbourne centre Justin Olam inside his team’s 20 metres.
Storm coach Craig Bellamy was unsure if the pass was forward.
“It turned into a (field goal) shoot out,” Bellamy said. “We didn’t handle getting in the right position as well as we should’ve.
“They are probably thinking the same. I’m not quite sure about that last decision about the forward pass. We could’ve done a bit better in those situations.
“The wake up call is the realisation we need to hold onto the ball. Until we start doing that we aren’t going to be the team we’re capable of being.”
The Sea Eagles raced to a 10-0 half-time lead thanks to two first half penalty goals and a try to Joel Thompson. Manly totally dominated the opening exchanges but as has been the Storm’s trademark they failed to give in.
Sea Eagles coach Des Hasler said it was a “pretty exciting game”.
“It was an important two points given the congestion,” Hasler said. “It will be a confidence boost for the boys. It was pretty intense. Both sides were desperate.”
DUMMY HALF POINTS
Both Melbourne’s tries came from dummy half. Except it wasn’t Smith who created either of those opportunities. The Storm clawed their way back into the contest on the back of a solo effort by centre Will Chambers. Chambers grubbered out of dummy half for himself racing past Jorge Taufua to score in the 50th minute.
The Storm drew level in the 67th minute when Brandon Smith crashed over from dummy half.
Brandon Smith said “it is the worst way to lose”.
TRBOJEVIC TROUBLE
Jake Trbojevic was placed on report for a dangerous tackle on Jahrome Hughes which would have given Cameron Smith a 47 metre penalty goal attempt.
Smith declined after Trbojevic’s tackle put Hughes in a dangerous position. It was a rare blemish for Trbojevic who made a game high 67 tackles.
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OBSTRUCTED VIEW
Manly were denied another first half try because of a Daly Cherry-Evans obstruction which played no part in the try-scoring opportunity and did not impede any Storm defenders. Regardless the bunker ruled against a Curtis Sironen four pointer.
NO WELCH
Maroons prop Christian Welch played just 11 minutes. The Storm interchange player was taken from the field where he failed his head injury assessment.
MANLY 11 (J Thompson try R Garrick 3 goals D Cherry-Evans field goal) bt MELBOURNE 10 (W Chambers B Smith tries C Smith goal) in extra time at AAMI Park. Referee: Grant Atkins, Peter Gough. Crowd: 14,836
Originally published as Daly Cherry-Evans’ golden boot hands Manly famous extra time win over Melbourne
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