The Parramatta Eels have recorded their fourth win of the season, defeating Penrith 26-20 in a tough match at Pepper Stadium.
A double to Semi Radradra and a flawless goal kicking performance from Chris Sandow led the Eels to the win.
Ryan Morgan opened the scoring inside the first three minutes following a beautiful ball from Will Hopoate.
Reece Robinson doubled the lead three minutes later and Chris Sandow's two successful conversions gave the Eels a 12-0 lead.
A penalty goal gave the Eels a 14-0 gap leading into half-time.
Parramatta played the match aggressively with a marked difference in their line speed which saw them belting the Penrith forwards.
The Panthers attempted to go around the Eels but desperate defence from Semi Radradra and Will Hopoate on the opposite sides of the field held the home side out.
The second half saw the Panthers roar back into contention, scoring tries through Bryce Cartwright, Isaah Yeo and David Simmons drawing them level after they only managed to convert one of their tries.
With 15 minutes to go though, Semi Radradra scored his first of the night when he crashed over the Penrith line.
Two minutes later and he had his second when a Brad Takairangi grubber was unable to be cleaned up by Penrith fullback Dallin Watene-Zelezniak.
The Eels led 26-14 with 10 minutes to go.
Zelezniak though kept the Panthers in it when he scored with nine minutes to go.
Chris Sandow came to the fore and marshalled his side, pulling off a number of good kicks that either earned repeat sets or forced the Panthers to work it off their own line.
Sandow's game management successfully close the match out, delivering Parramatta a 26-20 win.
See More: http://www.bluegoldglory.com.au/2015/05/29/11867/eels-outlast-panthers
Replies
"Sandow's game management successfully closed the match"
Yeah!!!!
Sandow has been coping it
Definitely deserves praise for this week
I think it was because Mannah was off and we needed a fresh body on. Apart from the dropped ball which wasn't all his fault he was alright. Pulled off a good tackle late in the match.
it was a win, but the second half to be frank was the "old Parramatta" coming back.
Think about it.
If the score was even at the end of the first half, we , once again would have suffered the "second half fade". We were out pointed 20 - 12.
If it wasn't for the first half 14-0 (yes defence was good, but it was poor execution with some over weighted kicks that stopped Penrith scoring), then we would have been looking at five losses straight.
YES, I am happy for the win, but we need to man up some more to even begin to think we are able to scrape our asses off the bottom of the ladder
How sweet it is.
This is a top blog if ever i have seen one.
This is why the Top Blogs "system" on 1eyed ell SUCKS re hashing OLD and irrelevant tripe to automatic front page status WTF !!!