| Crazy finish sees Marlins share points with the Pirates By Adam Lucius |
| What: Shute Shield round 17 |
| Who: Manly v West Harbour |
| Where: Manly Oval |
| Result: 42-all |
| Manly is where on the table: Fifth (48 points) |
80 minutes in 80 seconds:
The equation was simple – win and Manly play finals football in 2019. Lose, and we don’t. West Harbour have long been out of the top six race but gave us a major scare earlier in the year and again turned up with the right attitude. We led 27-21 at the break and looked set for a comfortable win after crossing for three consecutive tries to lead 42-21 late in the game. The last eight minutes was like something from the Twilight Zone. Wests scored to get within 14 and then scored again with a less than a minute to play. Time was just about up as we headed to halfway for the resumption. Manly just had to kick off and get hold of possession and reef the ball towards Fairy Bower. We got hold off the ball but inexplicably tried to run the ball and turned it over. The Pirates made one last desperate raid down the eastern touchline, putting in a grubber kick that was cleaned up by Marlins fly-half James Ohmsen and run dead. Game over. Hang on a minute. The ref decides he wants a bit of overtime and penalises us for….wait for it…throwing the ball dead. Didn’t happen but anyway. Wests score from the penalty and, as fate would have it, knock over the sideline conversion to draw level as Marlins fans stand around in a daze wondering what they’d just witnessed.
Where it was Drawn:
Yes, the ref made a major blunder. But up by 14 with 40 seconds left, Manly should never have left this one slip. The late fade-out overshadowed some good stuff from the home side. At one stage, we had seven tries to Wests’ three but just kept leaving the door open with poor options, brain snaps and a lack of composure
Marlins' best:
Alex Dalzell, Luke Crocker, Michael Adams (three tries)
What They Said:
“I’m a bit lost for words right now. We had that game in the bag but just…I don’t know. You can’t switch off like that. It’s a big wake-up for us.” – centre Dennis Pili-Gaitau
Worth a mention:
Thanks to everyone who supported us at Manly Oval this year. There is no better afternoon than watching the Marlins at the Village Green. Can’t believe we’ve got to wait eight months to do it all again but please get behind the boys in the finals. Firsts, seconds, fourths and all three Colts sides have qualified for the play-offs.
Where to From Here:
The Marlins have the last round bye and a guaranteed five points so it’s a Saturday afternoon glued to the box or app to keep check on scores from other games. Depending on results, we will finish fifth or sixth and play either Warringah, Eastwood or Uni in the first week of the finals. It will be sudden death from the get-go
