The Parramatta Eels have cruised to a round 16 victory over the Manly Sea Eagles at their home ground this Saturday evening. In front of a large crowd of vocal fans, the 34-4 scoreline will see Parramatta head not just into the top eight, but the top four, with a commanding points differential of 104. The win comes without their regular halves pairing of Mitchell Moses and Dylan Brown.
A consistent tit for tat style of play in the first five minutes didn't last very long, with the Eels making use of their second attacking chance of the night. In the 9th minute, hooker Brendan Hands dribbled through a grubber over his opponents tryline, and a Parramatta chaser was deemed to have been taken out by the bunker. As such, Kaeo Weekes was binned for the professional foul, and Manly were down to 12.
The Eels took immediate advantage of the extra man, opening the scoring through big man Ofahiki Ogden. He shrugged off a poor defensive effort from Haumole Olakau'atu before slamming the ball down on the line for his team's first points of the evening. Bailey Simonsson backed it up just a few minutes later, slicing through Manly's right edge defence to take the scoreline to 12-0 in the 17th minute (with the help of Gutho's conversions).
An error from Maika Sivo gave Manly a hint of momentum, and with their full contingent of 13 now back on the field, they were looking likely to open their own account. And score they did, in the 24th minute through some beautiful hands by their key spine players, which resulted in Christian Tuipulotu taking advantage of the overlap on the left edge. Garrick couldn't convert, leaving the score at 12-4.
Only a few minutes passed before the Eels hit straight back through Clint Gutherson, diving out of dummy half in the 29th minute. J'maine Hopgood would continue piling on the Manly misery just before half-time, with a spectacular solo effort to reach the white stripe. Gurtherson pinged the conversion in off the upright to boast perfect 4/4 conversion statistics in the opening half.
The second half was very repetitive at times, with the Eels dominating both possession and territory, but not gaining much to show for it. They were denied by the video referee on THREE occasions before finally opening their second half account in the 63rd minute through Bailey Simonsson's second of the game. In the subsequent 15 minutes, another three tries were denied, with Manly showing absolutely nothing with ball in hand.
Makahesi Makatoa put the cherry on top for Parramatta in the 76th minute, scoring off a Maika Sivo chip and chase. Gutherson missed his first conversion of the night to leave the final score at 34-4. Ofahiki Ogden was sent to the bin for good measure in the final minute for an innocuous professional foul, rounding out an odd game.
The Eels will take on The Dolphins next week, whilst Manly travel South to meet Melbourne.