Manly has defeated Melbourne for the second time in 2015, winning an arm wrestle at AAMI Park on ANZAC Day.
In front of 13,948, two second half tries to the visitors confined Craig Bellamy’s side to their third loss of the season.
The Sea Eagles opened the scoring, electing to kick for two points after being awarded an early penalty.
A deluge of rain prior to kick-off created greasy conditions at AAMI Park however it didn’t stop the attacks of either side with both Storm and the Sea Eagles forcing each other to defend repeat sets.
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Continuing his strong start to 2015, Marika Koroibete put Storm ahead in the 18th minute of play with his sixth try of the season.
Playmaking partners Blake Green and Cooper Cronk then combined to extend Melbourne’s lead after a line break busted the Sea Eagles defence, allowing halfback Cronk to score under the posts.
A late surge from the visitors put the Storm defence under the microscope as half-time approached with the Storm defence keeping their eight point advantage intact heading into the break.
With the rain returning in the second half, Manly picked up where they left off towards the back end of the opening stanza. Three repeat sets to the Sea Eagles finally yielded points for Geoff Toovey’s side as they got through the steadfast Storm defence courtesy of lock Tom Symonds.
In tough conditions, both sides continued to trade sets as the match sat in the balance with neither able to find a killer ball until David Williams was released in the right corner to hand the visitors the lead.
With seven minutes left to find a response, Melbourne were un able to find a way through the Manly defence and turnaround the deficit.
Melbourne Storm 10
Tries: Marika Koroibete 18m, Cooper Cronk 32m
Goals: Cameron Smith 1
Manly Warringah Sea Eagles 12
Tries: Tom Symonds 50m, David Williams 72m
Goals: David Williams 2
