Wests Magpies have extended their unbeaten streak to four matches with a convincing 32-10 victory over the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles in Round 15 of the Knock-On Effect NSW Cup.
Match: Magpies v Sea Eagles
Round 15 -
home Team
Magpies
8th Position
away Team
Sea Eagles
11th Position
Venue: Lidcombe Oval, Sydney
The classic battle between the Fibros and Silvertails was reignited at Lidcombe Oval, with the home side taking a 12-4 lead into the break before powering away in the second half.
Former Magpie Brandon Wakeham opened the scoring for Manly, pouncing on a Joey Walsh grubber to touch down early. The Sea Eagles looked to have gone back-to-back soon after through Jacob Sykes, but the try was denied due to obstruction.
Wests responded in the 20th minute when front-rower Kit Laulilii crashed over next to the posts off a perfectly timed short ball from Charlie Murray. The two had attempted a similar move earlier in the match but were pulled up for a forward pass, with persistence paying off on this occasion.
Kurt Falls added the extras to give the Magpies a 6-4 lead, and it was another front-rower’s try that followed. Fresh off the bench, Lebanese international Jaxson Rahme latched onto an offload from Murray to extend the lead.
Leading 12-4 at the break, the Magpies made a strong start to the second half. Charlie Staines climbed high to collect a pinpoint bomb from Falls, crossing out wide to push the lead to 18-4.
Manly hit back through Caleb Navale, who angled his run beautifully off a sharp short ball from Walsh to score under the posts, reducing the margin to 18-10 with just over 25 minutes to play.
With the game tightening, Falls calmly slotted a penalty goal to push the lead back to 10 points. When Laulilii was taken high in front of the posts soon after, the Magpies opted for another two points to create a 12-point buffer.
Wests sealed the result in style through Krystian Mapapalangi, who ignited a sweeping left-edge move by sending Izaac Tu’itupou down the sideline, before backing up on the inside to finish a brilliant team try.
Mapapalangi wasn’t done there though. His well-weighted grubber late in the contest found centre Josh Feledy, who grounded the ball to put the icing on a dominant Magpies performance.
The final score read 32-10 as the Magpies continued their push up the NSW Cup ladder.
Magpies 32 (Laulilii, Rahme, Staines, Mapapalangi, Feledy tries; Falls 6/7 goals) defeated Sea Eagles 10 (Wakeham, Navale tries; Wakeham 1/2 goals) at Lidcomve
