sports - 2026-05-14

Late Hills tries sink Manly Leagues comeback in 36–18 Ron Massey Cup loss at 4 Pines Park

Source: www.seaeagles.com.au

Manly Leagues came within two points of overhauling a 12-point deficit on Saturday night, but three Hills Bulls tries in the space of 11 minutes ended the comeback in a 36–18 Ron Massey Cup loss at 4 Pines Park.

Manly Leagues came within two points of overhauling a 12-point deficit on Saturday night, but three Hills Bulls tries in the space of 11 minutes ended the comeback in a 36–18 Ron Massey Cup loss at 4 Pines Park. After trailing 20–8, the Sea Eagles scored three tries in quick succession to narrow the gap to 20–18, before Hills answered with a decisive burst that pushed the final margin out to 18 points. Manly’s night began poorly, with the Bulls scoring in the third minute when five-eighth Kakapuna Fotu crossed for a 4–0 lead. Hills extended the advantage in the 19th minute after a spilt bomb by the Sea Eagles, with Fotu crossing out wide again to make it 8–0. Manly responded after 24 minutes when a strong offload in traffic created space for half Tyler Melrose to break clear and send five-eighth Cameron Robertson away to score, cutting it to 8–4. The Bulls regained control six minutes later through a try to forward Nathan Vaeluaga next to the posts, taking the score to 14–4. Two minutes after half-time, a bad bounce from a grubber kick led to Manly Leagues prop Nicholas Bilsborough spilling the ball, and lock Noah Parker pounced to score for a 20–4 lead. Manly hit back in the...