Newcastle Knights continued their great run of form beating Parramatta Eels 29-10 halting the Eels’ six match winning run and extending theirs to three. The Knights have also moved off the bottom of the NRL ladder, leaving Wests Tigers languishing in 16th position.
In Parramatta prop, Tim Hannah’s 200th game, it was the Knights that were celebrating first, opening up a 12 point lead in under 10 minutes through tries from Ken Sio and Mitch Barnett, both assisted by Queensland origin star, Dane Gagai.
Parramatta however responded, two tries of their own drew them within two points of the Knights. First Jennings broke the line and rounded Gagai, then Will Smith took Brad Takairangi’s knock down to stroll over.
With Smith now in the bin for 10 minutes, the Knights scored twice to extend their lead to 14. Brock Lamb provided for Lachlan Fitzgibbon before stepping through the line himself to notch.
Gagai and Sio combined once more to send the latter in at the corner to make the margin 18. Lamb added gloss to his man of the match performance with a late drop goal for the Knights.
Eels: 19 Will Smith, 2 Semi Radradra, 3 Michael Jennings, 4 Brad Takairangi, 5 Kirisome Auva’a, 6 Corey Norman, 7 Micthell Moses, 8 Siosaia Vave, 9 Cameron King, 10 Tim Mannah, 11 Manu Ma’u, 12 Tepai Moeroa, 13 Nathan Brown; Interchanges: 14 Daniel Alvaro, 15 Kenny Edwards, 16 Sunia Matagi, 17 Peni Terepo
Tries: Jennings, Smith; Goals: Moses 1
Knights: 1 Dane Gagai, 2 Ken Sio, 3 Joe Wardle, 4 Peter Mata’utia, 5 Shaun Kenny-Dowall, 6 Brock Lamb, 7 Trent Hodkinson, 8 Daniel Saifiti, 9 Jamie Buhrer, 10 Josh King, 11 Sione Mata’utia, 12 Lachlan Fitzgibbon, 13 Mitchell Barnett; Interchanges: 14 Danny Levi, 15 Jacob Saifiti, 16 Sam Stone, 17 Luke Yates
Tries: Sio 2, Barnett, Fitzgibbon, Lamb; Goals: Hodkinson 4
Monday’s edition of League Express, available in the shops or online, will feature full coverage of all the weekend’s NRL matches.
