Manly coach Trent Barrett says Daly Cherry-Evans’ match-winning field goal was ‘no fluke’
MANLY skipper Daly Cherry-Evans described his match-winning golden-point field goal as “lucky.” However Sea Eagles coach Trent Barrett was quick to correct him at the post-match media conference.
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MANLY skipper Daly Cherry-Evans described his match-winning golden-point field goal as “lucky.”
Sea Eagles coach Trent Barrett was quick to correct him at the post-match media conference of Sunday’s 33-32 win over Cronulla.
“Chez says it’s lucky but he does practice his field goals off both feet everyday,” Barrett said. “It’s no fluke.”
Cherry-Evans missed a 78th-minute field-goal attempt to win the match before bouncing back to nail the vital one-pointer four minutes later.
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“It was pretty lucky. It was disappointing I missed the first one in regulation time so it was nice to get a second chance. Often in rugby league, you don’t get a second chance,” he said.
“I was really lucky that we got the ball first (from the kick off in golden point) and we got into a position to kick one.”
Cherry-Evans was spotted practicing field goals during the warm-up on Sunday.
“I enjoy kicking the ball around so any chance I get, even in the warm up, I like to kick a few field goals and get used to the conditions, especially on an away trip, you never know what sort of game you’re going to run into,” he said.
“Today we needed it so it was really lucky.”
Even lifetime Manly haters couldn’t deprive Barrett some joy on Sunday. He had been forced to sit through two weeks of hell before finally finding that elusive win.
He screamed with joy in the coaching box when Cherry-Evans kicked his side to a shock 33-32 win.
Barrett sat through a round 19 belting from the Sydney Roosters before almost being reduced to tears after watching Penrith score four tries in seven minutes last weekend to snatch a gut-wrenching win.
“I’ve nearly had a few heart attacks in the last few weeks,” Barrett said. “I’m just really happy for the players, the way they bounced back from the heartbreak of last week.
“That was a tough game to review last week but they have dusted themselves off. They hung in and hung in today, we have been on the wrong end of a few of those this year so I’m really happy for the players and the club.
“It just pushes us further up the ladder to where we want to be and need to be for this back-end of the year.
“We were good enough to put ourselves in a position to win it and ‘Chezza’ iced the game for us. As long as we are learning something every week, we’ve just got to aim up and win again next week.
“It’s been a difficult year, it’s hard on everyone, I’m no different to any other coach. It’s a tough job and a lot of coaches have seasons like the one we have had. I’m not the only coach in the comp that does it tough at times.”
Originally published as Manly coach Trent Barrett says Daly Cherry-Evans’ match-winning field goal was ‘no fluke’
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