Maika Sivo went to the top of the NRL try scoring list with a hat-trick as Parramatta Eels beat Manly Sea Eagles 32-16 at Bankwest Stadium to leapfrog their opponents and finish fifth in the NRL table.
Parramatta came out of the blocks fast to score two tries in the opening ten minutes. Sivo caused havoc on the left before offloading to Michael Jennings for the first before Waqa Blake did likewise on the right before setting up Clint Gutherson.
Both Mitch Moses and Reuben Garrick kicked penalties during the rest of the first half before Moses started the second half with two more two-pointers, one of which was taken after Martin Taupau was sent to the sin bin for a high tackle on Ray Stone.
That setback didn’t seem to hinder the Sea Eagles who scored their first try of the game when down to twelve through Manase Finau. But a great kick from Dylan Brown got the Eels back on track through Sivo.
Manly continued to plug away and Fainu scored his second try of the game when he pounced on a loose carry from Tepai Moeroa. Then Garrick’s second penalty brought the Sea Eagles back to within a try.
Kane Evans’ sin bin for a high tackle on Brad Parker looked to have given Manly even more of a sniff but Sivo’s second and third tries sealed Parramatta’s win.
Eels: Gutherson, Sivo, Jennings, Blake, Ferguson, D Brown, Moses, Evans, Mahoney, Paulo, Lane, Ma’u, Alvaro; Interchanges: Niukore, Takairangi, Stone, Moeroa
Tries: Jennings, Gutherson, Sivo 2; Goals: Moses 5
Sin bin: Evans (68) – high tackle; On report: Evans (68) – high tackle
Sea Eagles: Elliot, Taufua, Parker, Suli, Garrick, Walker, Cherry-Evans, Fonua-Blake, Koroisau, Taupau, Paseka, Sironen, J Trbojevic; Interchanges: Waddell, Fainu, Keppie, Perrett
Tries: Fainu 2; Goals: Garrick 4
Sin bin: Taupau (46) – high tackle; On report: Taupau (46) – high tackle
Full match reports of all this weekend’s NRL games will feature in Monday’s League Express.
