Manly Sea Eagles beat South Sydney Rabbitohs

Manly Sea Eagles weathered a second-half South Sydney Rabbitohs fightback to seal a 20-12 victory and extend the struggling Bunnies' losing streak to seven NRL matches.

The Rabbitohs needed a victory to keep their slim hopes of reaching the finals for a fifth straight season alive, but trailed 18-0 at half-time at the Allianz Stadium and were unable to recover despite an improved display after the break.

Captain Jamie Lyon put Manly in front just four minutes in and converted his own try before adding a penalty to leave Michael Maguire's men up against it.

Jorge Taufua spun away to go over in the corner and Tom Trbojevic showed a great turn of foot to add a third try, with Lyon adding the extras four minutes before the interval to put Manly in command.

Fit-again halfback Adam Reynolds wriggled through a gap to touch down and get the 2014 Premiers on the board and a converted score from Cody Walker reduced the deficit to six points just 12 minutes into the second half.

Manly stood firm and Lyon added another penalty as they stretched their winning run to three matches to stay in the hunt for a top-eight finish.