The Blue and Gold show silences Canberra crowd

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Canberra Raiders v Parramatta Eels

The Parramatta Eels have wiped out last weeks poor performance after taking a dominant 35-10 victory over the Canberra Raiders at GIO Stadium.

Two sides that were dominated last weekend were looking to make a big impact early in the contest which is exactly what the Parramatta Eels did when they were able to score inside just three minutes. The Eels were gifted field position after a Jordan Rapana error and in the ensuing set, Reed Mahoney's decision to go short side on tackle 5 worked a treat as Isaiah Papali'I crossed over to score.

The Green Machine were able to hit back soon after when Jordan Rapana went from Zero to Hero when he was able to get on the outside of Blake Ferguson to score in the corner. The conversion attempt from Croker went across the face of the posts.

Isaiah Papali'i was causing problems for the Raiders all night and it was his efforts on the right that created space for Maika Sivo to cross after a good ball from Clint Gutherson. Mitch Moses' conversion from the sideline pushed the margin out to 8 points for the Eels.

Going straight through the middle of the park put the Raiders in good field position and Josh Hodgson's efforts to go through the middle, created space as the Eels defenders were left grasping at air before Hodgson found his English compatriot George Williams to score. The conversion from Jarrod Croker closed the gap to within two points.

The second half was a totally one-sided affair with the Parramatta Eels dominating and it was Isaiah Papali'i who got scoring going once again. The Eels shifted left and a pass from Gutherson to Opacic was plucked out of the air by Papali'i who got over to score his second try of the game.

A piece of brilliance from Mitchell Moses extended the lead for the Eels when Moses started a top-quality sequence of play when he spread the ball wide before getting it back and stepping his way through the middle before the ball ended up with Shaun Lane who scored.  

The final ten minutes was when Parramatta really put the Raiders to the sword with Reed Mahoney crossing after some more Mitch Moses skill when his pinpoint kick was tapped back by Shaun Lane to Nathan Brown before finding Reed Mahoney who was backing up to score.

Mitch Moses added a field goal to push the score out to 28-10 after Ben Cummins needed the bunker to confirm that after his attempt hit the post, it dropped over the crossbar. The Eels then added a try on the stroke of full time when Clint Gutherson went through some flimsy Raiders defence to score. Mitch Moses sealed the victory with his fifth conversion of the night and the Eels took a 35-10 victory.

Next weekend, the Eels play host to the Broncos on Friday night at TIO Stadium whilst the Raiders have a trip to Townsville next Saturday night up against the Cowboys.