Left-foot trick shots a daily occurrence for Cherry-Evans

Daly Cherry-Evans put his left-footed match-winner against Cronulla down to good fortune but fellow sharpshooter Trent Hodkinson has seen the same play practised ad nauseum since arriving at Manly to know it was anything but luck.

The golden point strike off his wrong foot secured a thrilling 33-32 win for the Sea Eagles, extending a remarkable run of 15 wins from their last 17 games against the Sharks.

Minutes earlier Cherry-Evans had missed a regulation-time shot from a similar range, before nailing his next attempt despite oncoming Cronulla defenders forcing him into a snapshot.

"It was pretty lucky," the Manly skipper said.

"[I was] disappointed I missed the first one in regulation time so it was nice to get a second chance. Often in rugby league you don't get a second chance, so I was really lucky to get the ball first and got into position to kick one."

The fact this was his 18th career field goal suggests there was little luck involved in his extra-time execution.

Hodkinson, who has kicked 16 one-pointers of his own to go with a five-star knack of nailing sideline conversions, paid tribute to the hard yards put in by his captain.

"When it's on the line he wants the ball, he practises those left-footers too," Hodkinson told pan66.com.

"I've seen him running through that exact snap play plenty of times and that's testament to him. It was going over from the moment it left his boot.

"He does a lot of practice after every field session, he's one of the last out there every time and there's always field goals to finish off, it's no accident there."

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For coach Trent Barrett, his side's ability to bounce back from a devastating loss to Penrith – in which they led by 18 points with 13 minutes remaining – said plenty about their desire in a season where finals aspirations are long gone.

"That was a tough game to review last week," Barrett said.

"They've dusted themselves off and hung in and hung in. We've been on the wrong end of a few of them this year.

"I've never had any doubt about the players we've got. They're all pretty honest. Last week was a hard game to review, I'll be honest.

"For 68 minutes we were by far the better team. But as long as we're learning something every week, we've just got to aim up and win again next week."