The race to avoid the NRL wooden spoon is well and truly alive after Parramatta ground out a dour 14-8 win over Canterbury at ANZ Stadium on Thursday night.
The Bulldogs burst out of the blocks in the opening 15 minutes but fell in a heap in the second-half as the Eels ran over the top of them to break a three-game losing streak.
Parramatta remain in last spot, however it moved them to 10 points, equal with the Dogs and North Queensland, who take on St George Illawarra on Saturday.
In front of a disappointing crowd of 8437, there were few highlights in a game marked by errors and penalties.
The Dogs’ fifth tackle options in particular were woeful in the second half as halves Lachlan Lewis and Jeremy Marshall-King failed to impose themselves on the game.
The Eels took the lead for the first time in the 53rd minute when a Lewis grubber ricocheted off Nathan Brown and Mitchell Moses ran 90 metres untouched.
A Moses penalty goal in the 69th minute gave the Eels an eight-point buffer before two points from Rhyse Martin with seven minutes to play set up a tense finish.
The Eels held on to secure just their second win in their last 10 starts and fourth victory of the season.
Earlier, the Dogs opened up a 6-0 lead when Kerrod Holland shot through a gaping hole close to the line in just the seventh minute.
But the Eels were back on level pegging by halftime after Brett Morris was sin-binned for holding back Bevan French.
Kaysa Pritchard blew a golden chance the set immediately after Morris went for 10 when he lofted a forward pass.
However the Eels No.9 atoned just minutes later when he finished off a Tepai Moeroa break.
The Dogs also have concerns over forward Clay Priest, who left the field in the second half with what appeared to be a right hand injury.
Peeled
Guest
Where have all parras big forwards gone they run over us late in games
Adz Sportz
Roar Guru
I tip Eels, Dogs and Cows to all go past Manly to hand them their first wooden spoon!!
Ray Paks
Roar Rookie
Aaron Woods has a tremendous grin on his face, wherever he is...in cronulla
BA Sports
Roar Guru
It was clearly a try. from the replays and subsequent still shots I saw. Luke Keary jogged off last week. The NRL sent a strongly worded letter to all the clubs a couple of weeks ago. The fact that Josh wasn't required to jog off for 10 minutes for clearly pushing (after initially going shoulder to shoulder) on Takarangai was the biggest controversy from "The General" on the night, IMO.
Dogs Boddy
Roar Rookie
Watching the replays I'm still not convinced that the Eels grounded the ball for that first try. It looked like he hit the turf short of the line then was held up afterwards. Otherwise it was nice to see Brett Morris jog off the park when given his stint in the bin. Nearly every player I have seen this year has walked off very slowly, and even ensured they lingered in the field of play for a bit extra to ensure their team got a bit more of a breather (looking at you Smith). They should tack on an extra minute for every 10 seconds it takes the players to leave the field. Brett has been the only player I have seen who treated the decision with respect.
Bugsy
Guest
8K 2was a good crowd considering but were there really 8K there? You could easily count the folk if the camera held still long enough and Parra were penalised a lot towards the end to make a close finish. Arthurs time is at an end.
JimboJones
Guest
Im not Sure Dean Pay is much of a coach , its fine to blame Des for the alleged mess he left behind , but Souths were given no chance at the start of the year and look at the difference the coach has made there. I would think this will be the tone for a few years at Belmonstine.
Albo
Guest
Yep ! The Eels ran all over no one ! The got a length of the field runnaway try, against the run of play, due to a poor kick option from Lewis, and that was the Eels 2nd half scoring spree ? Both teams were awful again, and will rightly fight out the wooden spoon.
kk
Guest
It won't go down as a game to remember but the cryotherapy and hyperbaric chambers will get a real good workout.
BA Sports
Roar Guru
The Eels were marginally the better side but I am not sure that "the Eels ran all over them in the second half" Also refute the claim the Dogs halves came up with woeful last play options in the second half. In those situations you get the ball in the hands of your star - your highest paid player - So they gave the ball to Greg Eastwood..
Malo
Guest
Just imagine spending all that money on superstars too get the spoon. The ceo must be thinking they should have just bought u21 players.
bazza
Guest
Just happy we won :) go parra :) got 4 points in 3 weeks on a roll :)