Tom Kingston scores for Sydney Uni in the Students’ 25-23 win over the Marlins at Manly Oval
Photo: seiserphotography.com

by Brendan Bradford –

Sydney University flyhalf Bernard Foley kicked a drop-goal after the siren to steal a 25-23 win over the Marlins in a tense finals match at Manly Oval on Sunday afternoon. The Students now have a week off, while Manly play Eastern Suburbs at Coogee Oval next weekend.

Despite fielding a Super Rugby-laden side, Uni went down 17-0 after 20-minutes but had fought back into contention by halftime. The defending champions trailed throughout the second half as well and didn’t take the lead until the 81st minute when Foley calmly slotted the drop goal from 15-metres out.

Having sailed into the finals series with convincing wins over Southern Districts, Gordon and Randwick, it was the first real battle the Students have had since a 20-15 round 13 defeat of Warringah in June. Despite being behind on the scoreboard for all but the first two minutes, this polished side always looked in control. Trusting their structures and long hours of training, Uni’s last minute surge and after-the-siren winner seemed inevitable against a tiring but valiant Manly outfit.

Manly should be encouraged despite the loss. Their imposing forward pack took it to the Students who simply had more firepower on the bench, while flyhalf Marshall Milroy led the backline with composure and Mali Hingano was more than a match for the Uni midfield.

Flanker Jordy Reid was outstanding for the Marlins despite spending ten minutes in the sin-bin
Photo: seiserphotography.com

Both these teams will take a lot of stopping in the weeks ahead.  

Manly came out firing, with Matt Lucas directing traffic from the base of the ruck and Milroy slotting the first points of the match after a couple of minutes.

Manly declined the shot at goal from a further two penalties in the opening ten minutes in favour of kicking for touch and taking on the fearsome Uni pack in a lineout drive. Those opportunities came to nothing but Lucas charged down a Bernard Foley clearance, forcing Uni to ground the ball in goal and the Marlins fed the first of two attacking scrums.

Taking a leaf out his forward pack’s book, Milroy took the Uni defensive line head on from first receiver and easily broke through some weak tackles to dot down under the posts and increase the lead to 10.

The Students were off the mark throughout the opening quarter, knocking-on a couple of times while Millroy nailed the corners from the boot.

Jordy Reid was one of Manly’s best, carrying the ball with gusto into anything in a blue and gold jersey and defending with courage.

Manly kept the pressure on and went even further in front when Milroy found hooker Pat Leafa running a beautiful line to score under the posts.  

The Students declined several attempts at goal in favour of picking and driving before Reid was sent to the bin for repeated team infringements after half an hour. Uni dominated a couple of scrums, kept the pressure on and finally crossed the line through Tom Kingston on the left wing for a score of 17-5.

After their early dominance, Manly were kept on the back foot for the closing 20-minutes of the first half. Despite some bruising defence, the Marlins leaked another try on the stroke of halftime when Foley slipped through the line and Phipps outpaced Jacob Woodhouse to the tryline for a 17-10 score at the break.

Foley made another linebreak after the resumption to continue his dangerous form, but with Reid back on the field and Manly centre Mali Hingano causing havoc in defence, the Students didn’t enjoy the same dominance they took into halftime.

Milroy pushed two penalties to the right in quick succession before landing a third attempt for a 20-10 advantage as Uni bought Jeremy Tilse and Trent Dyer off the bench for added impact around the park.

Marlins flyhalf Marshall Milroy dive over for an early try – Photo: seiserphotography.com

Captain Tim Davidson went close from a pick and drive, but was denied by the TMO as the Students kicked into overdrive and pounded the Manly line. Davidson made the big call to pack another scrum instead of kicking for the posts after dominating the set-piece after the hour mark. The gamble paid off handsomely when Tom Boidin busted over and Foley converted to narrow the gap to three points with under 20-minutes to play.

Momentum swung back and forth several times throughout the match and Manly looked to close it out when Milroy took the score to 23-17 with another penalty with ten minutes on the clock.

Uni replacement James Dargaville threw a spanner in the works by scoring in the right corner with his first touch of the ball to narrow the gap to one. Foley’s conversion skimmed the uprights but was waved away and Manly got another reprieve as time ran out. Manly conceded a couple of penalties and knocked-on ten metres out from their own line to allow Uni to charge back downfield and pick and drive towards the posts.

They were tense moments, but the well-oiled Uni side handled it with poise. They rumbled towards the line as Foley set up in the pocket. Davidson took it forward. Dyer and Tilse made a few more metres. Phipps threw the last pass and a couple of despairing Marlins players were never going to charge down the Waratah flyhalf’s sweetly struck dropped-goal.

A blue and gold mob engulfed Foley as The Hill descended into silence for the first time.

Sydney University 25 (Tom Boidin, James Dargaville, Tom Kingston, Nick Phipps tries; Bernard Foley con, dg) d Manly 23 (Marshall Milroy, Pat Leafa tries; Marshall Milroy 2 cons, 3 pens) at Manly Oval. Referee Damien Mitchelmore.