On a wet and wild Thursday evening at Manly, the jeering of Cherry-Evans on every touch was almost comical as he played a role in four of the Roosters' six tries.
But by game's end there were chants of "Seibold out", with loud boos on fulltime as the winless Sea Eagles fell to a third straight loss at home.
After 352 games for the Sea Eagles, Cherry-Evans tormented his former club with his kicking game as Tom Trbojevic spilled two of his bombs.
While the scoreline was ugly, Manly were in this game until a crucial passage in the second half.
After leading 10-8 at the break, the Sea Eagles were gaining the ascendency before Corey Waddell was the victim of a one-on-one strip from Connor Watson.
By the time the hosts next had the ball they were 26-10 down, after Robert Toia stepped by Luke Brooks, Watson chased down an early grubber and Daniel Tupou was awarded a penalty try.
Manly showed signs of improvement in their first-half defence, while enterprising play resulted in a Trbojevic try 30 seconds into the match.
The form of Tolu Koula at least offers Sea Eagles fans some hope, after he produced an 88-metre solo try and linked with Trbojevic to send his fullback over for another long-range four-pointer.
But ultimately, this was not the win under-pressure coach Anthony Seibold desperately needed, with Manly losing their first three games at home for the first time since 2004.
In contrast, the Roosters' win will alleviate some of the pressure surrounding them following their poor start to the season.
With scrutiny on his own game, Cherry-Evans played a role in the Roosters' opening two tries when he first offloaded in the lead up to Mark Nawaqanitawase's four-pointer.
A Cherry-Evans bomb then put the Roosters on the attack for Nawaqanitawase's next, with Trbojevic putting down a kick before Cherry-Evans spread the ball right for his winger on the next play.
And Manly were also unable to handle Cherry-Evans' kicks in the lead up to Tupou's penalty try and Toia's second late in the game.
Making matters worse for Manly will be the fact Saab was sin-binned late for high contact on Hugo Savala.
Luckless Roosters centre Billy Smith suffered a knee injury before halftime, and will require scans.
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