Eels lap listless Titans

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Parramatta Eels v Gold Coast Titans

The turmoil continued tonight for Neil Henry and his Gold Coast Titans with Parramatta comfortably recording a 30-8 win at ANZ Stadium.

Less than 7,000 fans were enticed to the Olympic venue for a Thursday night fizzer which saw the Eels never really challenged by a Titans outfit in all sorts of trouble.

It all started fairly horrendously for the Titans, having already lost Jarryd Hayne, Max King and Jarrod Wallace before kickoff - and inside the first ten minutes, winger John Olive was taken from the field with a dislocated elbow. A reshuffle ensued with Will Zillman going to the flanks, Phillip Sami the centres and Tyrone Roberts shifting to the back, allowing Kane Elgey to partner Ash Taylor in the halves.

It was all for nought however, with the Eels opening the scoring at the 10th minute, Tepai Moeroa with the first 'meat-pie' of the day. Fourteen minutes later Daniel Alvaro, who had started the game for the injured Siosaia Vave, doubled the Eels' advantage and the hosts were already looking comfortable at 12-0.

The scores might have been all the worse for the Gold Coast had the Eels converted all their chances, but some clangers ensured the visitors stayed within reach despite being thoroughly outplayed.

Will Smith grabbed the Eels' third try just five minutes after the halftime break, but it was their fourth try to Semi Radradra that spawned plenty of commentary on social media after the rampaging winger appeared to have knocked the ball on, but Bunker official Luke Patten cleared the play to give the hosts a 24-0 lead.

Vision of @TheParraEels Try decision in the 53rd minute of #NRLEelsTitans.#NRL pic.twitter.com/j8ELt5giex
— NRL Bunker (@NRLBunker) August 17, 2017

The Titans clawed back two tries in the last 20 minutes of the contest after playing to the flanks, with debutant Ben Nakubuwai & Will Zillman each bagging four-pointers but it was little consolation for a club in the news for all the wrong reasons over the past week.

Parramatta capped a comfortably victory on their way to their first finals berth in eight years with Will Smith crossing for his second try in the final minute.

In a season the Titans will simply want to end right now, they have two games to come - at home against Canterbury next Saturday before a final round trip to Allianz Stadium to face the high-flying Roosters. Parramatta head to Brisbane next week, then host the Rabbitohs at ANZ in the final round.