PARRAMATTA EELS 20 WESTS TIGERS 22
IAN HOWE at CommBank Stadium, Monday
WESTS TIGERS have moved into second place on the NRL ladder after securing a thrilling golden-point victory against Parramatta Eels at a sold-out CommBank Stadium today.
In a game that swung from end to end, the Eels took an early ten-point lead with tries from Bailey Simonsson and Junior Paulo, with Mitch Moses goaling the second.
But, with Englishman Kai Pearce-Paul’s offload game causing trouble for the Eels, the Tigers took a half-time lead with tries by Adam Doueihi and Jahrome Bula, both of them goaled by Jock Madden, who was proving an able deputy for the absent Jarome Luai.
The Tigers stretched their lead early in the second half when Faaletino Tavana beat Josh Addo-Carr in the air to take a Madden bomb to the corner, with Madden converting well from near touch.
The Eels lost Simonsson on 60 minutes to a dislocated ankle, which saw Luke Laulilii despatched to the sin bin for a dangerous tackle and that allowed the Eels to bring on debutant Apa Twidle, who almost immediately scored two superb unconverted tries in the corner to bring the teams level.
Moses and Madden both kicked penalties in the closing stages and they both attempted to win the game through long-distance field goals before, in the first half of golden-point, the Tigers were awarded a penalty near the posts for offside as Madden had another field-goal attempt. Although that failed, he was able to comfortably convert the penalty in front of the bank of Wests Tigers supporters to win a thrilling game.
EELS: 1 Joash Papalii, 2 Bailey Simonsson, 3 Brian Kelly, 4 Sean Russell, 5 Josh Addo-Carr, 6 Jonah Pezet, 7 Mitchell Moses, 8 Jack Williams, 9 Ryley Smith, 10 Junior Paulo, 11 Kelma Tuilagi, 12 Kitione Kautoga, 13 Dylan Walker. Subs: 14 Tallyn Da Silva, 15 Sam Tuivaiti, 16 Charlie Guymer, 17 Luca Moretti, 18 Jack de Belin (not used), 19 Apa Twidle
Tries: Simonsson (11), Paulo (15), Twidle (60, 62); Goals: Moses 2/4, Da Silva 0/1
TIGERS: 1 Jahream Bula, 2 Faaletino Tavana, 3 Sunia Turuva, 4 Heamasi Makasini, 5 Luke Laulilii, 6 Jock Madden, 7 Adam Doueihi, 8 Terrell May, 9 Api Koroisau, 10 Fonua Pole, 11 Samuela Fainu, 12 Kai Pearce-Paul, 13 Alex Twal. Subs: 14 Latu Fainu, 15 Sione Fainu, 16 Royce Hunt, 17 Alex Seyfarth, 19 Jeral Skelton (not used), 20 Tristan Hope (not used)
Tries: Doueihi (29), Bula (35), Tavana (43); Goals: Madden 5/5; Sin bin: Laulilii (60) – dangerous tackle
SCORING SEQUENCE: 4-0, 10-0, 10-6, 10-12; 10-18, 14-18, 18-18, 18-20, 20-20; 20-22
Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match: Eels: Mitchell Moses; Tigers: Jock Madden
Penalty count: 4-7; Half-time: 10-12; Referee: Peter Gough; Attendance: 29,397