By MARK CASHMAN

Eastwood got their season back in some sort of order after their 45-27 win over Manly on Saturday but coach Ben Batger wants his side to show more killer instinct if they want to contend.

The Woods led 24-3 and 37-17 at different stages but let the Marlins back into the contest in what was an open and entertaining affair that delivered 10 tries.

Batger said it was a good victory but he called on his side not to let sides back into games, a habit they have been doing in recent weeks.

“Yes it was a good win. Our first half really set the tone for the afternoon and I think if we finished off our chances we could have put the game away by half-time,” Batger said.

“We led 24-3 and 37-17 so we need to learn to not let teams back into games.

“Having said that I thought we played a lot smarter than the game against Norths the week before.

“We exited well and our defence, despite conceding 27 points, had a lot more purpose so it was a step in right direction.”

Manly continued to bed in their halves combination of Harry Emery and Harley Attwater and got some pay from that with the Marlins No.9 crossing for a couple of tries.

Unfortunately Emery dislocated his shoulder in the second half and looks to be gone for the rest of the season.

A yellow card to Woods prop Willie Leoso opened the door a bit for the visitors at 24-3 and they put on a couple of nice tries to make the score 24-17.

But the Woods powered on once they had their numbers back and the scorer quickly blew out to 38-17 before another surge from the Marlins.

The game was the 100th first grade game for James Hilterbrand and it’s a shame it couldn’t end with a win for the Marlins.

Manly coach Matt McGoldrick said: “It was a poor first half from us with too many first phase errors and that allowed Eastwood to score some pretty easy tries without really earning it.

“We did get back into the game but again gifted them a couple of soft tries.”

There were some bright spots with Yool Yool working well off the ball and showing nice touch in attack.

“At the end of the day we didn’t play with any physicality and looked flat from the beginning,” McGoldrick added.

EASTWOOD 45 (Willie Leoso, Ed Craig, Ratu Tuisese, Matthew Gonzalez, Enoka Muliufi, Fabian Goodall tries; Tane Edmed 6 conversions) d MANLY 27 (Max Douglas, Alex Dazell, Harry Emery 2 tries; Harley Attwater 2 conversions, pen goal).

IMAGE: SERGE GONZALEZ / EASTWOOD RUGBY