Match Report: NSW Cup Round 4 vs Eels

Two old rivals faced off in a classic contest where Parramatta had the upper hand early but weren’t able to hold off the Sea Eagles once they got a roll on.

Parramatta didn’t waste any time getting things going, executing their first opportunity in the 4th minute when Arthur Miller-Stephen polished off a shift to the right edge.

Manly spent a bit of time down the other end in the opening 20 minutes but Parramatta were dominating the field position for most of the early stages of the half.

They were unfortunately unable to add to the scoreboard and it was only a matter of time for Manly to strike back.

It took a towering bomb from Brandon Wakeham and a busy contest to break the Eels defence, where Caleb Navale was able to pick up the scraps and streak away to level things up in the 28th minute.

This completely flipped the momentum the Eels were building, as Aaron Schoupp and Navren Willett crossed for tries in the following 10 minutes.

Just as it seemed as though Manly had taken full control of the game, a failed intercept attempt from Aaron Schoupp gave Parramatta one more attacking set before halftime, where the spine combined to lay on a near identical try for Miller-Stephen in what was the last play of the half, trimming their halftime deficit to 8 points.

Finding themselves back on the attack early in the second half, the Sea Eagles were quick to make amends for the try they leaked on halftime when Navren Willet crossed for his second off the back of some quick hands from Jake Arthur and Schoupp.

When Broden Konz crossed just 3 minutes later it looked like it was destined to get ugly for Parramatta, but they fought their way back when Felix Niutili-Schmidt steamed onto a short ball from Josh Lynn to keep them in the fight.

Willet found himself playing fullback later on in the contest after Clayton Faulalo was forced up the tunnel due to injury, and slid a lovely face ball to Raymond Tuimalo Vaega who crashed over for Manly’s 6th try of the afternoon.

Manly were well and truly in control of the match once again and didn’t concede anymore points until Lynn and Niutili-Schmidt combined for another try in the 73rd minute, which proved to be too little too late.

Courtesy NSWRL - Written by Mason Cernoy