NYC Knights fall to Manly

NYC ROUND 24 RESULT

NEWCASTLE KNIGHTS 18
(C Mata'utia 2, J Allison, P Mata'utia Tries; W Smith 1/4 Goals)
Lost to
MANLY SEA EAGLES 30
(N Cooper, M Ikuvalu, J Trbojevic, J Drinkwater, D Strickland, J Lemalu Tries; J Drinkwater 2/5 Goals; J Drinkwater 1/1 Penalty Goal)
At Brookvale Oval.

The NYC Hunter Ports Newcastle Knights have been defeated 30-18 at the hands of the Sea Eagles at Brookvale Oval on Sunday afternoon. A strong first half performance from the Sea Eagles proved too much for the Knights to overcome, with Manly scoring five tries in the space of 28 minutes.

It didn’t take long for the home side to open the scoring through Nathan Cooper, with a mistake from the Knights allowing the second rower to grab first points.

The Newcastle side responded just four minutes later through Joshua Allison, and when Will Smith converted it was 6-all, suggesting that there was plenty of points on offer in this game.

Matt Ikuvalu injected himself on the right edge for great effect in the 12th minute for more points. An intercept from Clinton Gutherson allowed prop Jack Trbojevic to score not long after - things were looking positive for the Sea Eagles. A dropped ball in the 25th minute was collected by Josh Drinkwater who furthered his side’s lead, and when centre Dylan Strickland sliced through the Newcastle defence before beating Kurt Mann, suddenly it was 24-6 in favour of Manly.

The Knights got one back late in the half, with Smith putting in a deft kick which he regathered before passing to Pat Mata'utia, who didn’t need his brother outside of him, running 30 metres to score. Smith missed to conversion from the sideline, leaving the score at 24-10 at halftime.

After the break, the Knights almost continued to close the gap, with Mann just losing the ball over the line. However the Sea Eagles signalled their intent with Justin Lemalu claiming a try six minutes into the half.

A break from Smith in the 60th minute set up Chanel Mata'utia, making it one try each for the Mata'utia brothers in this game. Smith missed the conversion, but there was still plenty of time for the Knights to make up the difference, down 28-14.

Drinkwater kicked the Sea Eagles out to 30 with a penalty goal in the 66th minute, and despite a try on the siren to Chanel Mata'utia, it would prove to be too little too late for the Knights.