line before hurling an overhead pass back inside for Farrah to offload to Jason King and then on to Foran, who sprinted into a gap before looping an overhead pass for a charging Glenn Stewart to dive over out wide. Lyon threaded the conversion to give Manly a handy 24-12 lead at the break.
The Tigers clawed their way back into the match eight minutes after the break when Ashford profited from a Marshall cut-out ball to score out wide. Marshall missed the conversion to leave the Tigers trailing 24-16.
Manly restored its advantage a few moments later when Lyon leapt highest to mark a Foran crossfield kick and plant the ball next to the posts for his second try of the afternoon. Lyon converted his own try to push Manly to a 30-16 lead.
The Tigers refused to give-in and they grabbed their fourth try of the afternoon when Marshall worked a double man play to put Tuqiri away down the left flank. The big winger smashed his way through the tackle of Farrar before twisting and planting the ball for a try in the corner before the cover defence was able to put him into touch. Marshall missed the conversion from the sideline to leave the score 30-20 midway through the second half.
Manly looked to have killed off the match in the 66th minute when substitute prop Brent Kite popped a great pass for Farrar to hit the ball at pace and dive over under the posts. Lyon put the ball over the black dot to put Manly 36-20 in front.
Lyon extended Manly’s lead to 38-20 with a penalty from right in front eight minutes from full-time to seal a strong win at the right end of the season.
Manly Sea Eagles 38
Tries: Lyon 2, Rodney, Foran, Stewart, Farrar
Goals: Lyon 7/7
Wests Tigers 20
Tries: Heighington, Lui, Ayshford, Tuqiri
Goals: Marshall 2/5
Crowd 20,059 at Bluetongue Stadium