Manly Warringah Sea Eagles have marked Daly Cherry-Evans’ 352nd and final game for the club with a 27-26 victory over the Warriors at 4 Pines Park.
The home side recovered well after the worst possible start to take a 14-10 lead into half time, and held on to scrape home off the boot of their captain.
The match kicked off before a capacity crowd at Brookie eager to watch Cherry Evans’ final dance.
Sadly, the start didn’t go according to plan.
The Warriors scored the opening try in record time, after just 9 seconds of play when DCE allowed the kick-off to bounce, Jason Saab then fumbled, and Warriors prop James Fisher-Harris did the rest.
It was a magic recovery from Cherry-Evans in the next few minutes.
He kicked a trademark 40-20 to put his team back on the front foot, before putting Ben Trbojevic in a hole for Lehi Hopoate to score in the corner. He then added the extras from out wide to get his team back level at 6-6.
The Sea Eagles next try came after the Warriors failed to diffuse a bomb which handed Manly another good attacking opportunity.
Jake Simpkin soon spotted the smallest of openings and burrowed his way over from close range to put his side ahead 10-6
Hopoate then crossed for his second try in the 15th minute which followed a break by Manly from deep within their own half.
A perfect long-ball from Tom Trbojevic sailed across the face of two defenders for Hopoate to stroll in untouched.
Dallin Watene-Zelezniak was denied a try in the 28th minute after great scrambling defence by Manly saw him put a foot into touch to leave the score at 14-6 to the home side.
The Warriors powerful right winger wouldn’t be denied seven minutes later. A mistake by Matt Lodge coming out from his own end presented the Wahs with the opportunity, before Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad threw a looping pass for Watene-Zelezniak to cross untouched.
The second half was just two minutes old when Luke Brooks scored his team’s fourth try, and his fourth for the season.
The nifty No.6 threw a giant dummy before slicing through from 35 metres out to put his team ahead 20-10.
Manly extended their lead to 26-10 about eight minutes into the second half after receiving possession from a contested bomb.
Corey Waddell scooped up the ball and then provided a nice pass for Ethan Bullemor to cross for his fifth try of the season.
The Warriors hit back five minutes later to make it 26-14 when Nicoll-Klokstad burst through a yawning gap on Manly’s left edge.
An injury to replacement Aaron Schoupp then saw local junior Joey Walsh enter the field on the hour mark to make his NRL debut.
The 19-year-old who went to school just across the road received a standing ovation from the 17-thousand-plus crowd.
The Warriors reduced the margin to six points with six minutes remaining when dummy half Sam Healey darted over from close range to set up a nail-biting finish.
The scriptwriter would have Cherry-Evans playing a pivotal role in the outcome of his final game for the club. Maybe a drop goal with his left foot? And he did.
With five minutes remaining, DCE stepped up to slot the match-deciding field goal, the 29th of his career, to give his team a seven-point buffer.
The Warriors scored and converted in the dying minutes with DCE’s one-pointer getting his team home, one last time.