Mathew Williams covered what happened in the exciting clash between the Eels and Cowboys at CommBank Stadium on Friday night.
Result
Parramatta Eels 24
Tries: Wiremu Greig (18′), Maika Sivo (55′), Sean Russell (63′), Mitchell Moses (78)
Goals: Mitchell Moses (18′, 56′, 65′, 79′)
North Queensland Cowboys 16
Tries: Scott Drinkwater (7′), Kyle Feldt (68′, 75′)
Goals: Chad Townsend (9′, 75′)
Report
The Cowboys who were looking to bounce back from their disappointing performance last week had a spirited fightback before falling 24-16 to the Parramatta Eels at CommBank Stadium.
A man of the match performance from Dylan Brown led the Eels to victory, holding off the fast-finishing Cowboys who crossed two tries in seven minutes through Kyle Feldt with Scott Drinkwater heavily influencing the comeback.
The Cowboys were the first to trouble the scorers when a Heilum Luki offload found the hands of Drinkwater with the fullback managing to hold off the defence and stretching out to score the first points of the night. Chad Townsend adding the extras.
The Eels hit back when rookie Wiremu Greig crossed over for his maiden NRL try off the back of a Dylan Brown short ball. Mitch Moses knocked over the conversion and scores were locked up at 6-6 after 20 minutes of play.
Dylan Brown turned from provider to denier when he chased down Townsend who was supporting a break and cut down the opposition halfback just metres short of the try line, saving an almost certain four pointer. This ensured that the sides would head into the sheds all square at half time.
A shift down the Eels potent left edge saw Maika Sivo cross untouched in the 55th minute as they stripped the Cowboys right edge for numbers. Moses then converted to give the Eels a six point advantage heading into the last 20 minutes of the game.
Sean Russell crossed a short time later when shift to the right left the Cowboys defence scrambling and the Eels winger found the space to dive over in the corner. Moses’ conversion pushed the lead out to 12 points.
A superb cut out pass from Drinkwater put Feldt on the outside of Sivo and the winger crossed with just over ten to go. The missed conversion saw the Eels have an eight point advantage heading into the final minutes.
Minutes later, Drinkwater would find Feldt once again to bring the scores to 18-16 with just four minutes to play setting up the grandstand finish.
However, Eels halfback Moses had other plans as he took on the line off the back of a scrum and his speed saw him cross the line to seal back-to-back victories for the home side.
PLAYER OF THE YEAR POINTS
Embed from Getty Images3 – Dylan Brown (Parramatta)
2 – Mitch Moses (Parramatta)
1 – Scott Drinkwater (Cowboys)
