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http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/sport/nrl/story/0,26799,24079194-5006066,00.html
High shot ... Jarryd Hayne is hit by Ty Williams. Photograph: Mark Evans / The Daily Telegraph
High shot ... Jarryd Hayne is hit by Ty Williams. Photograph: Mark Evans / The Daily Telegraph
Even Eels were bored in tedious win
By Steve Jancetic | July 25, 2008 12:00am
EELS 16 COWBOYS 4
PARRAMATTA captain Brett Finch last night admitted his side was "boring" after the out-of-sorts Eels kept their season alive with a narrow 16-4 victory over the Cowboys.
In a stunning aftermath to a contender for worst match of the year, Finch claimed even he was "bored on the field" as the Eels scored an uninspiring 14-point win over the last-placed Cowboys.
"It wasn't a good game to play in," Finch said.
"It is just the way the game is heading with the ruck. It was a boring game to play in and a boring game to watch.
"I was thinking about sleeping standing up. I think it is the ruck in general and that is what it is doing to the game. But it was an important win for us."
After racing to a 14-0 lead in the 27th minute, the Eels hung on to score a season-saving win over the wooden spoon-bound Cowboys.
But Parramatta looked more like pretenders than contenders as they fumbled, spilt and dropped their way to within one point of the top eight. The win has done nothing but kept their ailing premiership campaign on life support.
Adding to their woes, Eels centre Jarryd Hayne was placed on report for kicking Dayne Weston.
"It didn't matter how we won, we would have still been under the pump," coach Michael Hagan said.
"I think our attitude in defence was good and that's what I wanted out of the match.
"It needed to be better and it was. We were after two points and we haven't had them for a while.
"We will accept them and I don't think we will be talking about the game again."
The Eels opened strongly with Finch laying on a try for returning fullback Luke Burt in the third minute - but from then it was all downhill.
In the second half, the game degenerated into a mistake-fest.
The only points in the second half came from a Luke Burt penalty goal.
In the post-match press conference, Hagan said he was more concerned about the future of the game than his side's deficiencies.
"I think we have a team capable of making the eight," Hagan said.
"I think we have the ability. But I think our game has some real issues at the moment.
"We went to the video referee eight times tonight and I think the referee had an opinion of six of them.
"When you have a genuine option then get on with. The fans would be disappointed with how slow and how many stoppages there were tonight.
"We are going to get more (boring) games like this. I think we should be moving towards two referees.
"It has to be a consideration to speed the game up. Some of the stuff that goes on on the ground, you nearly need a microscope to work it out."
But there was no glossing over Parramatta's woes as they prepare to face the Knights in another must-win game.
PARRAMATTA 16 (L Burt, T Williams tries; L Burt 4 goals) NORTH QUEENSLAND 4 (J Williams try). Referee: S Lyons. Crowd: 7253.
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