Knights blow Eels off the park in the first half

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Newcastle Knights v Parramatta Eels

Newcastle exploded out of the blocks against a confident Eels, and raced away to a good lead before halftime to set up a good 28-14 win in front of nearly 20,000 home fans.

In the sixth minute Kalyn Ponga kicked a penalty goal - and then from the restart Danny Levi made a break from dummy half deep inside Knights territory and then threw a good pass back inside to Ponga who ran 55 metres to score under the posts. He converted his own try.

Two minutes later, the Knights were in again. Mitchell Pearce delivered with a good grubber between the posts and Eels defenders Clint Gutherson and Blake Ferguson watched the ball as it approached the dead ball line, but Lachlan Fitzgibbon got there and grounded it for a try. Ponga again converted.

In the 26th minute, Levi quickly got out of dummy half once more, and dished a crash ball to James Gavet who barged his way over the line to score next to the uprights. Ponga converted.

Just before the break, Parramatta finally got on the board when Ferguson threw a long, flat ball to Maika Sivo and the big winger dived over untouched in the left corner. Mitchell Moses converted nicely from touch. Then right on halftime, Moses kicked a penalty goal to reduce the deficit to 12 points.

The Eels struck first in the second half when they got a quick play the ball away and then a great ball from Reed Mahoney hit Manu Ma'u charging through a gap and he scored under the dot. Moses converted. Ponga then kicked a penalty goal for Newcastle five minutes later.

The home side put the game beyond doubt with 10 minutes to go when Pearce took on the line and forced his way through, stretched out and dunked the ball for a try to the right of the posts for a great solo try to cap a brilliant performance. Ponga converted once more.

Parramatta tried to hit back but their execution continually failed them, allowing the Knights to hang on for a good win. Next week the Eels will host the Dragons at Bankwest Stadium, while the Knights are away to the Warriors.