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The Parramatta Eels have kept their hot start to the season going, putting on a solid display against the Manly Sea Eagles at Brookvale Oval to take a 12 point victory.
The Eels pushed through a lot of pressure early in the game, with Manly setting a cracking pace out of the gate. It was difficult for the Eels to make any headway out of their own end, but their defence held solid and they were patient waiting for opportunities.
In what was an entertaining game, Corey Norman’s kicking game was the controlling influence that kept the Eels in it during the first half, and his creativity helped them push away in the second.
Manly seemed to lack a lot of direction in the halves, but the forwards played a solid game and kept it closer than what it could have been. Tom Symonds in fact was maybe their best from the boot, forcing a few drop outs.
Addin Fonua-Blake was strong from the bench, and Jake Trbojevic was his usual reliable self but Manly’s attack, despite the awesome defence of the Eels – as it has been all season – left a lot to be desired.
Semi Radradra and Michael Jennings posed a danger every time they touched the ball out on the left-hand side, and Radradra in particular was brilliant in scrambling cover defence when a break was made.
After Manly spent much of the early going on the attack and looking for all money like they were going to be able to cross for the opening points, the Eels got piggy backed out of trouble and then picked up another close to the posts.
They took the crack at two and got on the board first, but it didn’t take long for Manly to score after that. While the try itself wasn’t off a perfectly executed set play, it was solid work as they managed to break the Parramatta defensive line open and create holes.
On the attack, they shifted the ball out to the right-hand side and Tom Trbojevic would throw a brilliant pass back in over his shoulder for Jamie Lyon to score.
Manly would then go ahead by six with a penalty goal, before the Eels bounced back with their first try.
That came to Brad Takairangi in the 33rd minute after a massive break down the left-hand side from Radradra, and a chip kick across the field from Corey Norman.
It followed a disallowed try just a few minutes earlier after another Radradra break and obstruction.
The game was really wide open and attacking all the way to half time, but there would be no further scoring as the teams went iinto the break all squared up.
Jamie Lyon would put the Sea Eagles back up by two early in the first half with a penalty goal, and it wa really a game of end to end football for almost half an hour with no tries being scored.
Both teams looked threatening on multiple occasions, but the defence stayed very solid. The one difference maker was concistenyly Radradra who ran the ball hard, and Corey Norman who’s kicking game always made you think the Eels were going to score.
Michael Jennings would cross for a double in the 69th and then 73rd minute, effectively putting the game beyond Manly.
The first of those tries was a little controversial and had it absolutely all. A chip kick across the field, pass back in from Gutherson and then a grubber kick into the in goal for Jennings to score.
The second was a little more straight forard, as Norman put in a fantastic grubber kick early in the set, Stewart dropped it and Jennings crossed.
Radradra would put the icing on the cake after a sweeping play to the left that found him in plenty of space.
In the end, a fantastic win for the Eels and they keep their high standing on the table.
Score
Manly Sea Eagles 10
Parramatta Eels 22
The Parramatta Eels look to further prove their premiership credentials when they travel to Brookvale and take on a Manly Sea Eagles side needing to build consistency. Join The Roar for live scores and coverage from 7:50pm (AEST).
Both teams are coming off strong victories last weekend, with the Eels facing a poor Canberra Raiders outfit that simply couldn’t contain their scintillating attack, while the Sea Eagles went to New Zealand and defeated the Warriors resoundingly.
For Parramatta, it was a question of getting their attack to work. Before last week, they had only conceded 59 points in five games but had failed to get their combinations and execution working in attack.
Against Canberra though, it was a completely different story as Corey Norman and Kieran Foran completely took over, en route to racking up 36 points. From a Manly point of view, it is seriously worrying coming into this game, because no edge defence in the competition is going to be able to nullify Foran, Norman and Michael Gordon at their best.
Manly had to work hard for their victory over the Warriors, but ran away in the back half of the game thanks to Apisai Koroisau’s kicking game. He was fantastic, and used the goal posts as a real weapon, consistently making the right decisions.
It follows mixed starts to the season for the two sides. The Eels now sit third place on the ladder having won four of their six matches so far and having a superior for and against to the three teams behind them.
Manly, while only losing one more game than the Eels, are all the way down in 10th place, such is the closeness of any early season competition ladder. Their style of play before last week, without Daly Cherry Evans on the park, has not been fantastic.
Furthermore, it has been inconsistent and that puts plenty of pressure on, particularly in defence which wasn’t aiming up.
After last week’s strong wins for each side, it shouldn’t really come as a surprise but neither team has made changes to their 17.
The sides have played 134 meetings coming into this match, with the Sea Eagles winning 82 of them.
Prediction
The combination of Foran, Norman and Gordon was strong last week and if the Eels defence holds solid as it has done for much of the season then they will get the two points here.
Eels by 8.
Be sure to join The Roar for live scores of the match from 7:50pm (AEST) and don’t forget to add your own comments in the section below.
Follow Scott on Twitter @sk_pryde