The Sharks have gone down by 28-20 in an NYC trial played at Remondis Stadium.
While competitive for long periods, Sharks coach Tony Herman wouldn't have been happy with a number of defensive lapses, however with six of his leading players involved in the NRL trial, overall it was an encouraging hitout for the young Sharks.
The Sharks began well enough, with speedy winger Josh Addo-Carr pouncing on a charged-down kick before dashing 40-metres to score and after the first minute of the match the home side was on the board.
The next period of the match however didn’t go quite according to plan and after Alan Nuilesa was held up over the line with Manly marching down the field before their big back rower Lim Knight strolled through to score.
Manly went over again out wide in the first 20-minute quarter of the match to lead 8-4. (No goal kicks on the night).
The Sharks leveled the scores when centre Alan Nuilesa crashed over wide out, before a Winston Asotasi four-pointer put his team in from at three tries to two after 27 minutes of the contest.
The next period of the game was dominated by the Sea Eagles, with the Sharks edge defense struggling to control their opponents and two tries before half time, then two more in the 10 minutes after the break saw Manly lead 24-12.
Fullback Dave McKenna crossed for the Sharks fourth try, cleverly gathering a cross field kick, however another Manly score made it 28-16 to guarantee a trial match victory for the visitors.
The Sharks touched down for a consolation try, scored after a determined run by front rower Jake Goodwin, to round out the scoring.
