Manly have stolen a 26-24 NRL win over Canberra after their late season charge for the finals looked set to derail in the nation’s capital.

In a see-sawing match, Manly led by 16 points after half an hour only for the home side to storm into the lead with three second half tries helping them out to a 24-16 advantage.

Then the old Brookvale connection came good.

Veteran Sea Eagles skipper Jamie Lyon scored his second try of the match with nine minutes to go to make it a four-point ball game.

Daly Cherry-Evans then made a 77th minute break before finding Brett Stewart on his outside, the Manly fullback diving over to level the scores.

Lyon calmly potted the conversion from adjacent to the posts to secure the unlikely win, keeping the Sea Eagles in contention for a finals spot with three rounds remaining.