By MARK CASHMAN

Hunter Wildfires coach Scott Coleman walked away from the Village Green a happy man after their 29-all draw with Manly on Saturday, but lamenting what might have been.

The Wildfires were in this one right up to their boot straps and Coleman reckons that they could have had a crack at hitting the lead with seconds left on the clock, but a turnover jackel 40m out went unrewarded.

Earlier the visitors had hit the lead in the middle stages of the game but slipped behind as the Marlins got their act into gear.

The move to tie the game up was a single carry 15m out from winger Rob Buserau where the winger kept the legs moving in contact and managed to get over the line and get the ball down.

Flyhalf Michael Moloney then converted from adjacent to the post to come up with the final scoreline.

“That was good reward for the boys efforts over the first month of the competition,” Wildfires coach Coleman said.

“They now know that they can compete at this level and from the vibe on the bus on the way back to Newcastle on Saturday night they are certainly enjoying giving it a good crack.

“Manly let us back into the game at different stages and the copped a few yellow cards but we were good enough to take the chances when they came our way.

“We’ve got Norths next weekend at North Sydney so we can’t wait to see how we go there – looking forward to it.”

Best for the Wildfires were hooker Steve Lamont, who played colts and a year or two of grade at Northern Suburbs, the centre Angus Brown and flyhalf Moloney.

Brown is an interesting story in that he thought his footy career was just about cooked after back surgery, but he recovered so well that he got the all clear a couple of months back to play and made his Shute Shute debut on Saturday.

Manly coach Matt McGoldrick lamented his side’s error rate and their inability to finish off opportunities.

“So many errors, we just aren’t clinical enough at the moment. Our own errors are limiting our growth,” McGoldrick said.

“BJ (Hartmann) pulled his calf in the first 10 minutes. He battled through but was very limited so the No.10 curse continues as we are down to our seventh due to injuries. Most season ending.

“We won’t quit though. Big week this week against Gordon. We will be ready to go.”

MANLY MARLINS 29 (James Hilterbrand, Max Douglas, Semi Camaisala, Yool Yool, Kotoni Ale tries; Yool 2 conversions) drew with HUNTER WILDFIRES 29 (Michael Moloney, Rob Buserau, Nimilote Qio, Chad Northcott tries; Moloney 3 conversions, pen goal).

IMAGE: ADAM MCDONALD / MANLY MARLINS