Parramatta Eels recorded their second win in a row with a hard-fought 24-22 win over Wests Tigers
After both sides exchanged penalty goals early through Esan Marsters and Mitch Moses, the former broke through the middle of the ruck and fed Corey Thompson who ran in under the posts.
But Wests dropped the ball from the kick-off allowing the Eels to bounce back. Corey Norman kicked for Bevan French who finished acrobatically.
Parramatta were on a roll and scored again when Moses offloaded to Michael Jennings.
Marsters reduced the Eels’ lead to two with a last-minute penalty in the first half.
Five minutes into the second half, Wests took the lead when a no-look Luke Brooks pass found Matt Eisenhuth who strolled in.
Their four-point lead didn’t last long. Manu Ma’u produced a late offload which led to Brad Takairangi diving over in the left corner. Moses’ conversion edged the Eels ahead 18-16.
It was a real ding-dong affair and that continued when Mahe Fonua, on debut for the Tigers, produced a great offload for Benji Marshall who just managed to ground the ball.
It didn’t stop, Ma’u got his reward for a great second half when he shrugged off Marshall to score. Moses again converted to win the game for the Eels.
Eels: Gutherson, French, M Jennings, Takairangi, G Jennings, Norman, Moses, Alvaro, Pritchard, Matagi, Ma’u, Williams, Terepo; Interchanges: Smith, Edwards, Gower, Mannah
Tries: French, M Jennings, Takairangi, Ma’u; Goals: Moses 4
Tigers: Thompson, Nofoaluma, Marsters, Naiqama, Fonua, Marshall, Brooks, Sue, Godinet, Matulino, Lawrence, Rochow, Eisenhuth; Interchanges: Liddle, Aloiai, Chee-Kam, Grant
Tries: Thompson, Eisenhuth, Marshall; Goals: Marsters 5
Full match reports from all this weekend’s NRL games will feature in Monday’s League Express.
