Manly post 34-10 win over Parramatta
For the first time this year Manly felt in control of their own destiny as the sleeping giants awoke to claim their biggest win of 2009, a 34-10 NRL victory over Parramatta at Brookvale Oval.
The Sea Eagles dominated the first half for a 22-4 lead and then kicked on for a six-tries-to-two win in front of 15,916 fans to register their fourth triumph of the season on Sunday.
A double to winger David Williams and another outstanding performance by star centre Jamie Lyon paved the way for the Sea Eagles; only a virtuoso performance from Eels fullback Jarryd Hayne providing any resistance.
Hayne scored a double but the Eels simply couldn't overcome the loss of skipper Nathan Cayless (concussion) and halfback Kris Keating (broken jaw) in the opening 15 minutes of the game.
The victory lifts Manly to 12th place on the ladder but still two wins outside of the top eight.
Coach Des Hasler said his men were "going along quietly."
"It's been the most controlled game we've played," said Hasler.
"The fact we were able to stick to our plan and to accomplish that was a good win for us confidence-wise."
Parramatta started brilliantly, Hayne darting over after just eight minutes, but the day quickly turned sour as they lost Keating and Cayless in succession.
Keating was taken to hospital after a head clash with Anthony Watmough in the 11th minute while Cayless left the field shortly after a high tackle from Jason King who was put on report.
The Eels lost their way and Manly found rhythm with rapid-fire tries to Matt Ballin (13th minute), Shane Rodney (25th), Chris Bailey (28th) and Williams (38th) putting them in total control.
"It's a bit of a war zone in there unfortunately," said Eels coach Daniel Anderson of his dressing room, adding Weller Hauraki (ankle) was also on the casualty list.
"We tried hard but we were outclassed today.
"I'm not sure how hard (Manly) went over the course of the 80 minutes. When they wanted to I thought they scored points which was concerning for us.
"I thought they got some soft (tries) ... we have to halve team's points if we're going to compete in games."
Hayne single-handedly sparked interest in the second half with a superb individual try, grubbering the ball into the goal-post and collecting the rebound from his boot-laces to score.
However the Sea Eagles put the result beyond doubt with Watmough strolling over untouched in the 60th minute and Williams icing the cake with his speed in the 78th minute.
It was Manly's biggest win of 2009 after previous victories over Wests Tigers (23-10), South Sydney (24-8) and last week's triumph over Brisbane (22-20).
"That is only two games in a row now, it's still a long season," said Manly captain Matt Orford.
"Momentum is a massive part of this competition and we're slowly building on that," said Orford.
"You have got to string games together to be a force in this competition ... I know if we stick to our guns and keep working hard it's going to happen."
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