Parramatta Eels have final hit-out before season
Saturday, 27 February 2010
The Pirtek Parramatta Eels have had their final hit-out before their season opener against the St George Illawarra Dragons on March 12, going down to the Sydney Roosters 40-14 at Gosford’s Bluetongue Stadium.
The Eels put on some big hits early through Brendan Oake and Timana Tahu, with his first involvement in a Parramatta jersey in two years forcing a Roosters mistake.
However the big hits weren’t enough to stop the Roosters’ attack, and the Eels let in two tries in the first 15 minutes. The first was a perfectly-placed kick behind the Eels’ line for Anthony Minichiello to score.
Three minutes later the Roosters broke through Parramatta’s right side defence to push the lead out to 12-0, but it did not take long for the Blue & Golds to strike back.
Centre Joel Reddy chased through a towering bomb which bounced in-goal, before Reddy sprinted through and spectacularly grounded it just before the dead-ball line.
The Eels benefited from a string of penalties late in the half and enjoyed numerous sets on their own line, giving coach Daniel Anderson a chance to try out his new attacking combinations.
However Eels fans had to wait until the final two minutes before half-time to witness another four-pointer when back-rower Brendan Oake crashed over from close-range. Luke Burt converted to reduce the deficit to just two points at the break.
The Roosters managed to stretch that back to eight points in the 46th minute when winger Sonny Tuigamala scored from a bomb.
But a serendipitous moment for lock Feleti Mateo delivered the Eels their third four-pointer straight after. Roosters halfback Mitchell Pearce was forced to chase a rolling ball through the in-goal from the ensuing kick-off and panicked with Parramatta players bearing down on him.
Trapped in-goal, Pearce tried to promote the ball into the field of play to prevent a line drop-out, but instead lost it, giving Mateo, who picked up the loose ball, a simple try.
Roosters replacement Aidan Guerra was next over the line, dragging a couple of Eels across with him to give his side a 10-point lead, before Todd Carney added another six points to his tally by converting his own try.
Too many mistakes in the final quarter handed the Roosters more possession and Anthony Minichiello and Tom Symonds scored late, giving the Roosters a 40-14 win.
SYDNEY ROOSTERS 40 (Anthony Minichiello 2, Mitchell Pearce, Sonny Tuigamala, Aidan Guerra, Todd Carney, Tom Symonds tries; Todd Carney 6 goals) def PARRAMATTA EELS 14 (Joel Reddy, Brendan Oake, Feleti Mateo tries; Luke Burt goal) at Bluetongue Stadium. Crowd: 18,511
