Storm marches on towards Minor Premiership with scrappy win over Eels

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Parramatta Eels v Melbourne Storm

Melbourne has defeated the Parramatta Eels by 32-14 in at times lethargic performance at CommBank Stadium tonight.

The win gives the Storm's chances of securing yet another Minor Premiership a huge boost as Craig Bellamy's men look to finish the NRL season in pole position.

While the coaching staff will be pleased to secure an important win away from home, they will not be thrilled with the performance which saw the renowned regimented side make multiple errors, with the visitors fortunate that Parramatta were unable to capitalise on the host of chances they had to take control of the game.

For Parramatta it was another game that got away, with the Eels gifting Melbourne two easy tries in the first half, despite being on top for the majority of time. Parramatta just looked like they have forgotten how to win, as they continued to shoot themselves in the foot time after time with crucial errors costing them any chance they had to assert any sort of dominance on the scoreboard.

The motivation for Parramatta was high pre-match with skipper Clint Gutherson celebrating NRL game 200 in front of their home fans. The Eels lifted early when lanky backrower Shaun Lane produced a terrific offload close to the line for Jake Tago to crash over for his first NRL try and an early 4-0 lead.

Melbourne then scored their first try of the night, turning defence into attack following a break from Ryan Papenhuyzen. The Storm then shifted the ball to the left-hand side, which saw Jack Howarth put Grant Anderson away for a try under the posts to take a slender 6-4 lead.

Parramatta scored their second try following a superb cut out pass from gun half Dylan Brown, which hit his winger Sean Russell on the chest to see him touch down in the corner and wrestle back an 8-6 advantage.

Melbourne hit back through Harry Grant before halftime, who was gifted a try when the ball was lost by Shaun Lane and the crafty number nine raced away to score under the posts untouched.

Despite being on top for large parts of the half, Parramatta then let their frustration get to them, when rookie winger Jake Tago was sin binned just seconds from halftime. Nick Meaney then kicked a penalty as the siren sounded to take an undeserved 14-8 lead at halftime.

Melbourne got on the scoreboard first in the second half following a break from William Warbrick. Jahrome Hughes then snuck down the short side and produced a clever bounce pass for Warbrick to score in the corner and jump out to a 20-8 lead.

The visitors continued to power away from the Eels, with Storm backrower Eliesa Katoa instrumental in tries for Tyran Wishart and then for his fullback Ryan Papenhuyzen who exploded onto an offload from Katoa to score next to the posts and extend the lead to 32-8.

Parramatta picked up a late consolation try late when winger Sean Russell raced over for his second try to narrow the scoreline to 32-14 at fulltime.

Melbourne will return to AAMI Park next Saturday, where they host the Dragons. Parramatta meanwhile will travel across the Tasman to face the Warriors.