Eels pay tribute to premiership heroes in monumental upset

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Parramatta Eels v Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs

In a match that saw 52 more points than the 1986 Winfield Cup Grand Final between the two sides, the Parramatta Eels walked away victorious with an 18-point upset win over the Bulldogs at CommBank Stadium.

Despite a set-for-set start, a sequence of events burnt Parramatta early. A wasted challenge on a kick that went out on the full and an error from Josh Addo-Carr set the Bulldogs up inside the opposition 20m. Bronson Xerri summed up the spacing perfectly down the short side and linked up with Jacob Kiraz for opening points.

Parramatta hit back almost immediately off a Marcelo Montoya yardage error. In the ensuing set, a lovely long pass from Ronald Volkman hit Addo-Carr on the chest and he burnt Montoya for pace down the sideline and was able to touch down just inside the left touch line.

After a titanic struggle with limited attacking chances, Parramatta extended their lead with 12 minutes to play in the first half. Volkman had a huge hand in the first and decided to do it all on his own, a terrific step through some poor middle defence of the Dogs to then step Connor Tracey to score a sensational solo try.

After one of the hits of the season from Addo-Carr on makeshift centre Josh Curran. The Eels continued to unleash their deep bag of party tricks. Although he was exposed defensively for the first try, Brian Kelly showed his work in attack, hauling in a Will Penisini pass, bumping off Matt Burton and sprinting down the sideline before kicking in field for Joash Papali'i to score.

Canterbury's chances at a comeback soured early in the second half when Jacob Kiraz left the game with a knee injury. But they quickly were up and about as they punished a poor Tallyn Da Silva pass. Some terrific shape down the left saw Lachlan Galvin take the ball to the line and score a terrific solo try.

Despite working back into the game, the Bulldogs followed this with a horror few moments Curran would rather forget. A cheap error out of yardage gave the Eels field position, before spilling a Mitch Moses cross-field chip that landed straight into the bread basket of Dylan Walker.Parramatta added to their three possession lead in contentious circumstances when Leo Thompson was pinned for a late tackle on Moses and extended the margin to 16.

Off a short kickoff from the Bulldogs, there was a frantic scramble, Curran couldn't handle the low rolling ball and Tallyn Da Silva sprints 65 metres to score and seal a famous win for the Parramatta Eels. Canterbury won their next short kickoff battle and quick hands out wide from Tracey and Xerri saw replacement outside back Jonathan Sua score.

The Eels put the icing on the cake in the final five minutes, off yet another Moses kick wasn't defused by the Bulldogs and Will Penisini was jolly on the spot to touch down for the home side. The visitors added a junk time try to Xerri who bumped over Moses to reach out and score. There are further concerns for the Bulldogs with Kiraz set for scans on his knee injury.