Shute Shield: Marlins Hold Off Parra in Messy Display at Manly Oval
by Brendan Bradford –
It won’t mean much to them, but Parramatta became the first side since Sydney University in Round 4 in April to keep Manly from scoring a four try bonus point.
In another fiery encounter that didn’t amount to much – sometimes you have to call a spade a spade – there were as many yellow cards as tries on Sunday afternoon as the Marlins came out 28-15 victors at Manly Oval.
With absolute dominance of the opening 40, Manly had a 14-3 halftime advantage courtesy of three penalties and an unconverted try, but could only add two more five-pointers in the second half in a match coach Phil Blake said was ruined by the visitors’ tactics.
“They came here with a clear objective to slow everything down, they got away with it, they were allowed to get away with it and it was just a poor spec