Broncos power home
against Eels

Round 3
Brisbane Broncos 30 def. Parramatta Eels 10

Match summary:

The Brisbane Broncos won their first game at home in 2006 with a 30-10 win over the Parramatta Eels at Suncorp Stadium today. The Broncos held a slender 8-6 advantage at half time.

The Eels started quickly having a try to Ashley Graham disallowed before Micheal Vella got through some poor defence to score for a 6-0 lead. The Broncos then brought their defence to the match and beat the Eels up, and in the process scored two tries, both to Tame Tupou for their 8-6 halftime lead. In an unusual move, Eels coach Brian Smith benched halfback Tim Smith for a large period of the first half and only put him back on nearly 10 minutes into the second half.

The Broncos kept up their first half form as Hunt made a classy run before unloading to Lockyer who picked up a classy try for a 14-6 lead. The Eels struck back with a daring cross field kick in their own half that lead to Ben Smith scoring to draw the Eels back to 14-10. The Broncos ran away with the game in the final 20 minutes with tries to Hunt, Hodges and Stagg to run out 30-10 winners.

Scorers:
Brisbane Broncos: 30
Tries: Justin Hodges, Karmichael Hunt, Darren Lockyer, David Stagg, Tame Tupou(2)
Goals: Corey Parker 1/1, Michael Ennis 2/5
Parramatta Eels: 10
Tries: Ben Smith , Micheal Vella
Goals: Luke Burt 1/2

Live commentary:
Very close to kickoff here at Suncorp Stadium.

1 min: NEWS Underway at Suncorp!

4 min: NEWS Video referee for a potential Parramatta try.

4 min: NEWS NO TRY - Ash Graham knocks on from a Mark Riddell grubber kick.

9 min: NEWS Video referee for another Parramatta try.

9 min: TRY Parramatta Eels
Vella runs through some weak Brisbane defence and scores easily. Burt converts.
Eels 6-0

11 min: NEWS Parramatta have almost totally dominated possession at this stage in the match.

12 min: TRY Brisbane Broncos
Great ball movement by the Broncos finds an overlap and Tupou scores out wide. Ennis fails to convert.
Eels 6-4

18 min: NEWS Broncos get a scrum close to the Eels line and then follow it up with a goal line dropout.

20 min: NEWS Video referee for a possible Broncos try.

20 min: NEWS NO TRY - A carbon copy of the first No Try at the other end of the field as Lockyer knocks on attempting to ground a kick.

20 min: NEWS Drinks Break

20 min: NEWS Back underway at Suncorp

24 min: NEWS Possession and territory favouring the Broncos at the moment, but they can't get it to show on the scoreboard.

25 min: NEWS Tim Smith substituted off, evidently a tactical substitution.

30 min: TRY Brisbane Broncos
More great ball movement from the Broncos sees Tupou score his second out wide. Ennis just misses the conversion.
Broncos 8-6

33 min: NEWS A small confrontation as the two hookers, Riddell and Ennis go quite literally nose to nose.

36 min: NEWS End to end match now. Hindmarsh appears to have picked up a knee injury.

38 min: NEWS The match has swung back the Parramatta way as they earn repeat sets and make several busts.

40 min: NEWS Half Time in a very exciting match.

Parramatta got out to a quick start before the Broncos finally started to defend strongly, and the Broncos deserve their 8-6 lead which has been built care of their solid defence.

Hindmarsh injury is nothing, he was running around comfortably at the end of the first half.

40 min: NEWS Back underway in the second half.

45 min: NEWS Both teams put up challenging bombs to start the second half, both result in 20 metre restarts.

47 min: NEWS Tim Smith returns to the field. Both teams putting in some very ineffective kicks.

48 min: TRY Brisbane Broncos
Hunt makes a great run around the defence, beats the wing and centre before passing back inside for Lockyer to score. Ennis slots the easy conversion.
Broncos 14-6

51 min: NEWS Broncos go nearly 100 metres after the kickoff and get a penalty. The Eels defend the set brilliantly.

53 min: TRY Parramatta Eels
A great 100 metre set of six that came from a daring cross field kick sees Ben Smith score. Burt misses an easy kick.
Broncos 14-10

56 min: NEWS Eels make another break, don't complete. Glenn Morrison with a knee injury, Casey McGuire also inured. Civoniceva also going up the tunnel.

58 min: TRY Brisbane Broncos
Lockyer runs the ball on the last and gets it to Hodges who scores. Ennis converts.
Broncos 20-10

60 min: NEWS Drinks Break.

60 min: NEWS Eels kick off as we go into the final quarter of the match.

62 min: TRY Brisbane Broncos
More great passing by the Broncos has Hunt running through a gaping hole to score. Ennis misses again.
Broncos 24-10

67 min: NEWS Parramatta having little success running the ball on the last tackle.

70 min: NEWS Broncos making plenty of easy metres now.

72 min: TRY Brisbane Broncos
Stagg cleans up after a kick is poorly fielded and scores under the sticks. Parker with the conversion.
Broncos 30-10

80 min: NEWS Broncos with a very powerful second half and a great defensive effort take the points by 20 against the Eels.

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Leagueunlimited.com players of the match:
3 - Darren Lockyer
2 - Karmichael Hunt
1 - Justin Hodges
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