Eels slay Dragons
13jul05
A HISTORIC full house at Parramatta Stadium saw the Parramatta Eels defeat St George Illawarra last Friday night in a fiery encounter.
Eels boss Denis Fitzgerald called the win a "very pleasing result", particularly as the 20,199 crowd was the first sell-out at Parramatta Stadium since it became all-seater.
The Eels ran away from the Dragons 40-14 in a match that saw Eel P.J. Marsh and the Dragons' Trent Barrett charged by the NRL match review committee on Monday.
"It was a terrific effort by the team," Fitzgerald said.
"They were on the back foot early on, being down 10-0, but they kept their composure . . . it was a great credit to our players."
Parramatta lock Dean Widders proved he had moved on from last week's controversy as he joined Ben Smith, Glenn Morrison, Wade McKinnon and Chad Robinson on the Eels' try-scorers list.
Widders helped set up two first-half tries for Smith then scored his own in the 49th minute.
The Eels have won eight of their last nine matches, and ignited talk that the minor premiership was in reach.
Fitzgerald said the Eels were not thinking in terms of knocking off Brisbane for the minor premiership title.
"We're just doing our best each week," he said. "It's just about us. we're not looking at other clubs."
Parramatta travels to Canberra this Sunday to play the Raiders.
"It will be tough down there, especially in the middle of winter," Fitzgerald said.
* The Eels said on Monday that front-rower Michael Vella sustained a small break to his right hand and was expected to be sidelined for at least a month. Daniel Wagon was recovering well from an ankle injury and might be available for next week's match against Newcastle while Fuifui Moimoi is available after a six-match suspension.
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