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ROUND 2 COACH REPORTS - HAROLD MATTHEWS CUP & SG BALL
12.20pm, Tuesday 24 February 2009
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Read on to see what Pirtek Parramatta Eels District Reps coaches Chris Bradbury and Mick Lewis thought of their sides big weekend wins over arch rivals Penrith at CUA Stadium.[/FONT]
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Harold Matthews Cup
Pirtek Parramatta Eels 28, Penrith 6[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Forward play was a highlight of the opening stanza of the Eels Harold Matthews Cup clash with Penrith, with strong running from Sione Hehepoto and Josh Neale putting Parramatta on the front foot early. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]But our good work was undone by two penalties back to back to the Panthers, which allowed them to get good field position. After a determined charge at the line from their big front rower Tai Tuivasa, Parramattas markers were not able to stop Nelson Tuia diving over from dummy half on the next play. With the extras added, Penrith led 6 nil.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]To the boys credit they responded quickly with well executed back line play allowing fullback Jacob Gagan to cross for our first points of the match. The conversion attempt was unsuccessful however we now trailed by just two points at 6-4.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]On the back of a great kick chase Gagan soon had his second try, which came after we forced Penrith to ground the ball in goal. From the drop out we were able to build pressure, which resulted in Gagan going over again. Josh Neale added the extras, putting the visitors out to a 10-6 lead.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Both sides put together some very good passages of play to finish the half, yet it wasnt until the second half that we truly stamped our authority on the game. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]After some strong play from both sides, which resulted in a few handling errors, we managed to control possession and soon enough we were in again. Forward Sione Hehepoto picked up a loose pass and crashed over for our third try. From there we continued to build pressure, eventually running out winners 28 - 6. [/FONT]
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Chris Bradbury
Coach[/FONT]
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SG Ball[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
Pirtek Parramatta Eels 30, Penrith Nil[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Like most matches between Parramatta and Penrith, our SG Ball clash was a bruising one.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]First points came fairly early on, when good lead up work saw half Josh Murray put big Rodney Moefaauo over with a nice short pass to score for a 4-nil lead.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Penrith looked like they were going to level through winger Tori Willie, but great cover from Jaydin Tavita and Chris Ulugia prevented Willie from touching down.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Parramatta extended their lead to 10-0 through a try to Jason Wehbe, the five eighth scoring and converting from beside the posts.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Willie again looked certain to score shortly after the Wehbe try, but once again Ulugia was on the spot to cut the winger down with some great cover defence.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]We then lost second rower Pat OHanlon to the sin bin for ruck infringement, and two sets of six later the Panthers followed suit when big Kilifi Tia-Kilifi was banished to the bin as well for the same infringement.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Right on half time Ulugia pounced on a Wehbe kick in what looked like a try, but the game officials ruled that the ball was not grounded correctly and the half time score stayed at 10-nil to the Eels.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The second half was played in mostly heavy rain, and Parramatta through Josh Tuitupou extended the lead when he crossed to make it 14-0.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Alan Eisenhuth then took off on an 80 metre dash for the Panthers, and looked certain to score until he was run down and tackled by Wehbe just short of the line.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Replacement winger for Parramatta Thomas Vandermade out leaped Eisenhuth to grab a well weighted kick from Josh Murray to score in the corner, and in heavy conditions Tavita kicked the conversion to give Parra a lead of 20-0 [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Tries to Tuitupou and OHanlon finished off the scoring, the 30-0 victory the Eels most solid win over their arch rivals in many years.[/FONT]
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Mick Lewis
Coach
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