Eels Holden Cup Team and junior reps thread, Part II

[Forty20]

Parra come their right from the scrum win where Newbigging gets a risky offload away to Clay who just pulls it in. A strong charge from Tepu-Smith gets the Eels back on track and Daoud heaves it downfield from halfway on the last.

The Dogs struggle for metres early in their set but look to have numbers when they shift the ball to their left edge. Fortunately they are unable to link up on the outside and Parra kill the ball.

They bomb Makelim on the last and he loses the ball backwards on his goal line but is able to recover and bring it out to the 10m line.

 

[Forty20]

Simple but effective set from Parra as they rumble the ball up the middle before Dockar-Clay directs the ball into touch.

Canterbury scrum 10m out from their goal line.

Parra are restricting the Dogs in defence once more but a penalty for a hand on the ball brings the Dogs into Parra's half.

The Dogs earn another fresh set when an offload picks up a touch from a Parra hand. They attack our left before coming back to our right but the Eels have good line speed and lock them down.

With nothing else working they roll the ball in goals but the kick is too deep and Parra come away with a 20m restart.

 

[Forty20]

Daoud throws a nice inside ball to Markus to put him into half a gap but the lock gets trigger happy with his offload and throws the ball to a defender.

The Dogs turn the ball down their left edge and find some space but good hustle from Dockar-Clay brings the winger down. The home team then swings the ball to our left edge to bring up the last before they bomb it back to our right.

Messy contest from both teams but Parra get their first penalty of the game for an offside player from the contest. Lucky break.

 

[Forty20]

A superb break from Moeroa gets him into the clear and and finds Makelim on his inside! The livewire fullback is pulled down a metre short of the the line and Clay screams for the ball on the right.

He throws a loooong cut out to Lavaka which would surely see the winger score but the pass is a good 3m forwards and the Dogs gets their own lucky break.

Canterbury scrum 10m from their goal line.

Ripper of a tackle from Moeroa to start the set. Appreciation from the crowd for it.

The Dogs ruck it out and hoof it down to Lavaka's wing where he takes a good catch over his head.

After butchering their first raid, the Eels make no mistakes this time around as Makelim bursts into the backfield after a supporting run up the middle. Dockar-Clay streaks up on his right in support and takes the pass from his fullback to fly 40m down field to score under the posts!

The conversion is successful.

Parra lead the Dogs 6-0

16min gone.

 

[Forty20]

Great work from Tepu-Smith on the kickoff! He over rides Clay's call to take the ball and plants his left foot on the line and takes the ball for a penalty on half way!

Davis takes a tap restart and catches the defenders out! He weaves down the right on a 40m run that takes him just short of the goal line.

The Eels immediately switch it to the left where Fred Junior Mauala steams onto the ball and thunders through some soft defence to score.

The conversion is successful.

Parra lead the Dogs 12-0

19min gone.

 

[Forty20]

The Eels spin it two passes to the left from the kickoff to give Tepu-Smith the first charge. They work back to the right and some second phase ball gets them into the Dogs' half on the last.

Daoud bombs the Canterbury fullback on the last and he takes another uncomfortable catch as he rolls back onto his try line. Davis dives on him and is a bit unlucky to give away a penalty as the ref believes he made a second effort to get him in goals.

A second penalty for lifting a leg takes the Dogs into our red zone and they have the chance to hit back. They do so as well, with their big number #10 running a nice angle between two defenders near the posts to split the line wide open. Makelim has no chance to stop the flying bookend and the Dogs are on the board.

The conversion is successful.

The Dogs trail Parra 6-12

23min gone.

 

[Forty20]

The consecutive penalties killed Parra there.

Davis kicks off to get play back underway and Mauala and Markus make a strong, driving tackle. One out stuff from the Dogs this set as they plug away after points.

Makelim is perfectly positioned to intercept their kick on the full and gets the ball back out to our 20m line.
Goodall comes into the middle to make a powerful charge for Parra and the Eels get a roll on from it. Kamikamica is on an makes a good 13m to get play to the Dogs' 20m line which allows Parra to bomb the left edge of the home team.

The kick fall 2m in the field of play but the chasers just can't get to it and make the tackle instead.

Tough set for the Dogs in return as they are hit with good line speed from Parra. They shoot for an early 40/20 but Makelim defuses it easily. The Eels ruck it up to halfway but an error in the ruck gives the Dogs possession.

Canterbury scrum on halfway.

 

[Forty20]

Some good defence from our left edge early in the set. The Dogs bring the ball to the other edge where Parra met them equally but after keeping them out for back-to-back tackles on that edge they go to sleep at marker to allow Tasi-Tasi to dive over from dummy half. Poor stuff, as with any barge over try really.

The conversion is unsuccessful.

The Dogs trail Parra 10-12

30min gone.

 

[Forty20]

A good dummy half run from the Dogs early in their set gives them some momentum before their #12 crashes through our left edge. He passes to his winger who sets off for the tryline but Goodall reels him in.

The Dogs are held up on the next play before kicking to our right. They look to have scored but not unlike the earlier attacking kick to that edge, there is an offside player and Parra earn a penalty.

 

[Forty20]

Simple set from the Eels as the ruck it out with Clay completing the set with a kick in behind the defenders on Parra's left edge.

Canterbury hunker down as well as they too go back to no frills footy but a mistake from a dummy half scoot gives Parra possession just inside their own half.

Kamikamica steams onto the ball and g carries some defenders with him for a 15m gain. Clay brings play to the right where the Dogs reads the Makelim sweep well. Clay wants the ball on the following play and seeing the fullback out of position he chips towards the posts for himself. He hits the uprights and regathers the ball but the defence catches up to him before he can plant it.

There is a driver from another Parra player to get Clay over the line but the ref is happy that he hasn't impeded a defender and Clay gets his second try of the day!

The conversion is successful.

Parra lead the Dogs 18-10

36min gone.

 

[Forty20]

Great chance for Parra now as the Dogs concede a penalty for holding down in the ruck.

Play resumes on the Canterbury 30m line.

After working it down the right, the Eels come to the left where Kamikmaica nearly pokes his way through. Daoud runs it down the left on the next play but is easily accounted for.

Clay works the next two tackles to the right and finishes the set with a lovely grubber that gets the Eels a line drop out.

 

[Forty20]

Kamikamica once more with the early carry. He is followed by Muna before Tui has a second charge this set. Daoud tries to give Davis early all but the pass it too high and Davis does well to control it before taking the tackle.

Bush takes the ball from dummy half and with shocking ease he darts down the shortside and scores just about untouched in the left corner.

The conversion is unsuccessful.

Half Time

Parra lead the Dogs 22-10

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Plenty of time left for us to fall asleep again.

 

[Forty20]

Pretty good half from the Eels, although a lull midway through proceedings got the Dogs back into the game.

Quality touches from Moeroa, Tepu-Smith and Kamikamica in the forwards got the Eels ahead in the ruck which in turn gave Clay and Makelim the space to work their magic in. Fabian Goodall intervened on both sides of the ball with some timely efforts but hasn't been given any chances to attack down the left. Ditto for Davis, who has worked his way into the game via a devastating tap restart but has otherwise been starved of the ball.

The Eels should be looking to carve out a sizable win after the first 40min but it is a brave man who runs with that line in the NYC!

 

[Forty20]

The Eels will be kicking off in the second half.

 

[Forty20]

Davis gets the second half underway with a high kick. A good chase from the Eels pins the Dogs 12m off their line.

Muna is well involved in defence early on before the Dogs swing the ball to our left. They hoist an attacking bomb on their final tackle but Lavaka leaps and defuses it perfectly. The Eels then pick up the first penalty of the second half although the touch finder is pretty skimpy due to the sharp angle.

Alec Bush is sharp around the ruck but some good hustle from the Dogs stops him before he does massive damage.

Daoud bombs it on the last but it is a poor kick that floats deep in goal and is let go for a 20m restart to the Dogs.

 

[Forty20]

Pretty poor set for the Dogs considering they had seven tackles at their disposal. They roll it up the middle but are contained quite well bu the Eels by Goodall takes their kick with ease.

The Eels try to create something down their right but the Dogs defend well and bring up the last tackle for the visitors. Another poor kick, this time from Clay, results in a 20m restart.

Better meters from the Dogs this time around but the Eels scramble well and recover the ball from an opportunistic Canterbury grubber on the last.

Time off as a player for the Dogs is down.

 

[Forty20]

Lavaka and Newbigging do the heavy lifting early in this set before Tepu-Smtih takes play over halfway.

Clay sends up an ordinary bomb that falls far too quickly for any chaser to get near but at least doesn't result in a 20m restart.

Clever play from Lavaka as he steals the ball one-on-one but as he strides down field he his marshaled towards the sideline and is forced to throw the ball back in field. A Parra player dives on the ball but slides into touch to give the Dogs a scrum 10m into their half.

 

[Forty20]

Awesome tackle from Oloapu and Newbigging there!

The Eels undo the good work whenthe #17 strolls through a yawning gap but they recover to pull him down just shy of the goal line.

Davis fields the Canterbury grubber in goals and beats some lazy chasers before flying 70m downfield. The Dogs' #5 gives a terrific chase and JUST gets the ankle tap. Davis rolls back to his feet and passes to Clay who then takes the tackle.

The Eels try to exploit the numbers on the right but are stopped with perhaps a suggestion that some offside players impeded the play. No to be disheartened, the Eels come back to the left where some nice ball work from Bush (I think?) puts Mark Daoud over!

The conversion is successful.

Parra lead the Dogs 28-10

51min gone.

 

[Forty20]

Strong runs from Tepu-Smtih and Moeroa early in this set. Markus gets the Eels into the Dogs' half and Dockar-Clay sends up a better bomb this time around. Good blocking from the Dogs prevents Parra from getting a play at the ball but the home team are forced to work the ball out from their 10m line.

Some great second phase ball from the Dogs cracks our right edge open before they somehow come away with six again after some confusion from both teams in the ruck.

The centre the ball and unsurprisingly, given the grade, crash over from dummy half again.

The conversion is successful.

The Dogs trail Parra 16-28

55min gone.