Manly website

The Alsafe Sea Eagles have conceded their second straight loss in going down 36-16 to the South Sydney Rabbitohs at Brookvale Oval tonight.

In a clash which saw two of the top eight heavyweights coming together in a vital match for both their respective seasons, a brilliant kicking game by the Rabbitohs proved too strong for the Sea Eagles.

While the Sea Eagles started the game strong through a great Riccardi tackle which presented the Sea Eagles with an early an early try through Scott Blanch, the remainder of the half was all the Rabbitohs.

They were able to hit back just seven minutes later when a wonderful kick-chase by winger Josh Mansour saw him ground the ball in the corner.

South Sydney were in again at the 20 minutes mark through Jake Shearer after some strong South Sydney defence had pushed Manly back in their own goals to make the score 10-6.

Souths continued to mount pressure on the Sea Eagles line and it finally took its toll as Matt Mundine jumped high above the Sea Eagles defence to catch the ball and score to make it 16-6 with ten minutes left in the half.

A string of penalties and errors once again had the Rabbitohs down field and they were able to make the most of it when Junior Vaivai managed to shrug off three defenders as the away side looked set to take a 14 point lead into half time.

However, with just half a minute left before half time, the Rabbitohs managed to go the length of the field from the kick off which saw a spectacular try to Malcolm Webster boost the lead to 20 points at the break.

The Sea Eagles needed to start the second half firing, but were forced to successfully defend their own line when they kicked off out on the full.

Manly was once again lucky to survive when a Mal Webster pass following a break went to ground, but for all their resilient defence, were struggling to make metres with ball in hand.

However, close to the line the Sea Eagles attack was a different story, and while David Sheenan was held up at first, Oldfield was able to dive over in the corner just moments later to have the score at 26-10, twelve minutes into the second half.

While Blanch was unable to convert, the momentum of the match had began to shift and some never-say-die attack on the Rabbitohs line allowed captain Liam Higgins to burrow over to continue the come-back.

Both sides traded chances as the clock ticked towards the seventy minute mark, but poor handling stopped either team from capitalising on the scoreboard.

However when an intercept try allowed Mansour to grab his second of the match with nine minutes remaining, any hope of a Sea Eagles fight back was over.

The Rabbits completed the bad night for the Maroon and Whites as Dylan Farrell scored their third try off a kick as he out leapt two Manly defenders to leave the final scoreline at 36-16.

The loss will now leave the young Sea Eagles desperate for victory when they take on the lowly placed Penrith Panthers at CUA Stadium next Friday night.