The Parramatta Eels hit the road and go to the South-West of Sydney this weekend in order to take on the Tigers and Magpies across the three junior representative grades. Round 2 victories for the Tarsha Gale and Harold Matthews gives both teams a solid momentum boost heading into this clash but they will both be taking on undefeated opponents in what will surely prove to be important benchmark games. For the SG Ball, they enter this weekend sitting at 0-2 and in desperate need of breakthrough need. In a fitting twist of fate so too do their opponents which means there will be two hungry teams meeting as they look to save their seasons even as early as Round 3.
Unfortunately I won’t be able to make it out to Camden today but I will still be providing score updates and the occasional game commentary as passed on to me by friends and associates who are able to be there!
1 Debbie Doueihi
2 Ameena Kanj
3 Jacinta Tui
4 Petesa Lio
5 Alysha Bell
6 Tallara Bamblett
7 Rose Beckett
8 Petalina Atoa
9 Ashlee Pottinger
10 Ruby-Jean Kennard
11 Tahleisha Maeva
12 Kyanna Lokeni
13 Summah Terare
14 Kasey Quye
15 Melenuku’o Akau’ola Laula
16 Lei-Lani Tua
17 Katalina Vave
18 Quin McVey
19 Emily Waters
20 Chelsea Steele
22 Tamerah Leati
Tarsha Gale First Half
The Eels strike first! Jacinta Tui touches down inside the left sideline to claim the lead. Sharpshooter Alysha Bell nails the extras from out wide.
Try scored by Jacinta Tui. Conversion successful by Alysha Bell.
Eels lead 6-0
7min gone
Crafty dummy half play from Ashlee Pottinger now. The Eels are on the attack care of a penalty from some sloppy marker defence and Pottinger spies the chance to jump out of dummy half and run from 10m out. Great call as well as she crashes over down the right edge!
Try scored by Ashlee Pottinger. Conversion successful by Alysha Bell.
Eels lead 12-0
15min gone
The Wests Tigers finally hit back after sustained pressure care of a penalty. Imogen Hope channels the same energy as Pottinger to dive over and narrow the lead.
Try scored by Imogen Hope. Conversion successful by Georgina Edwards.
Tigers trail 6-12
26min gone
In the shade of half time the Eels reclaim momentum as Rosemarie Beckett slices through! Alysha Bell remains flawless from the tee to push the lead back out to 12-points.
Try scored by Rosemarie Beckett. Conversion successful by Alysha Bell.
Eels lead 18-6
Half Time
Parramatta Eels 18 lead the Wests Tigers 6
Second Half
Errors prove costly early on in the second stanza for Parramatta as they gift the Tigers an attacking opportunity. They duly oblige and breach the goal line via their prop Folau Vaki. Tigers still very much in this.
Try scored by Folau Vaki. Conversion successful by Georgina Edwards.
Tigers trail 12-18
33min gone
The Eels get a chance to consolidate their lead back into two-score territory with a penalty goal. Alysha Bell is reliable as ever and kicks Parra to a 8-point advantage.
Penalty conversion successful by Alysha Bell.
Eels lead 20-12
44min gone
Wests aren’t going away though as they cross in the corner. Amber Johnstone claims the meat pie.
Try scored by Amber Johnstone. Conversion unsuccessful by Losana Lutu.
Tigers trail 16-20
47min gone
The boot of Bell is again called upon as the winger banks another crucial 2-points from a penalty goal. Lead back out to a converted try.
Penalty conversion successful by Alysha Bell.
Eels lead 22-16
52min gone
Fittingly the Blue & Gold call upon Bell for a third time in the second half to put the game beyond doubt in the final moments. She completes a flawless game with a third penalty conversion, bringing her tally to 12-points!
Penalty conversion successful by Alysha Bell.
Eels lead 24-16
59min gone
Full Time
Parramatta Eels 24 defeat the Wests Tigers 16
1 Mohamed Alameddine
2 Luke Maroun
3 Michael Gabreal
4 Junior Fagelele
5 Richard Penisini
6 Blaize Talagi
7 Lorenzo Talataina
8 Sam Tuivati
9 Matt Arthur
10 Kobi Hurford
11 Jezaiah Funa-Luta
12 Tyrese Lokeni
13 Sebastian Piukala
14 Zadius Muagututia
15 Jordan Faleano
16 Tyson Sangalang
21 Jordan Uta
18 Joshua Bridgett
Harold Matthews First Half
As with the Tarsha Gale it is the Parramatta Eels who strike first and strike hard. Powerhouse centre Michael Gabrael draws first blood in a huge turn against the run of play. An intercept on Parra’s goal line by winger Luke Maroun sparks the entire sequence as he runs 50m downfield and then kicks ahead for his centre to break the game open!
Try scored by Michael Gabrael. Conversion unsuccessful by Mohamed Alameddine.
Eels lead 4-0
17min gone
A poor completion rate from the Blue & Gold puts the Magpies in the box seat and eventually they punch it in next to the posts to gain the lead.
Try scored by Tallyn Da Silva. Conversion successful by Tajh Colquhoun.
Magpies lead 6-4
22min gone
Half Time
Western Suburbs Magpies 6 lead the Parramatta Eels 4
Second Half
The home team build upon their lead early in the second half on the back of sustained possession. A penalty paves the way for an attacking set in Parramatta’s redzone and they take it from sideline to sideline to cross.
Try scored by Nathaniel Gallagher. Conversion unsuccessful by Tajh Colquhoun.
Magpies lead 10-4
39min gone
Parra finally find a bit of their mojo as they string together a strong run of completed sets and cash it in for points! It is their big man Sam Tuivati who provides the crucial breakthrough and his fullback Mohamed Alameddine turns 4 into 6 with a much needed conversion.
Try scored by Sam Tuivati. Conversion successful by Mohamed Alameddine.
Eels lock the scores up at 10-all
54min gone
Magpies reclaim the lead in the closing exchanges of the game when the Eels are pinged for been offside. Clutch penalty goal is struck from 35m out to edge ahead.
Penalty conversion successful by Tajh Colquhoun.
Magpies lead 12-10
57min gone
Full Time
Western Suburbs Magpies 12 defeat the Parramatta Eels 10
1 Arthur Miller-Stephen
2 Suliasi Aho
3 Cody Parry
4 Charlie Guymer
5 Turoa Williams
6 Riley Lack
7 Ethan Sanders
8 Larry Muagututia
9 Yehya Ayache
10 Lance Fualema
11 Saxon Pryke
12 Daniel Reardon
13 Nick Lenaz
14 Reilly Canning
15 Markis Atoa
16 Dom Destradis
17 Josh Alhazim
18 Mark Simon
SG Ball First Half
Make it three from three today for first blood. Emulating the Tarsha Gale and the Harold Matthews, the SG Ball trouble the scorers first in their game with woering winger Suliasi Aho sliding over in the corner.
Try scored by Suliasi Aho. Conversion unsuccessful by Ethan Sanders.
Eels lead 4-0
6min gone
Run it back! Arthur Miller-Stephen rapidly builds on Aho’s handiwork with a try of his own next to the posts. Hot start in the SG Ball today.
Try scored by Arthur Miller-Stephen. Conversion successful by Ethan Sanders.
Eels lead 10-0
11min gone
Western Suburbs get on the board via their five-eighth Riley Pascoe as the scores adjacent to the uprights.
Try scored by Riley Pascoe. Conversion successful by Christian Jardim.
Magpies trail 6-10
25min gone
Lots of errors from both teams in something of a sloppy contest here. The Magpies are the first ones to tidy their play up and reap the rewards as their centre Kienan Tempest locks it up with a try in the corner.
Try scored by Kienan Tempest. Conversion unsuccessful by Christian Jardim.
Magpies lock the score up at 10-all
35min gone
Half TIme
Parramatta Eels 10 locked up with the Western Suburbs Magpies 10
Second Half
After a long stalemate with plenty of dropped ball it is the Eels who had push ahead. Reilly Canning is injected into the game from the bench and earns a reward for chasing the ball as he hares after an Ethan Sanders bomb. It is spilled by the Magpies’ fullback and Canning gobbles it up to nab a huge try.
Try scored by Reilly Canning. Conversion successful by Ethan Sanders.
Eels lead 16-10
58min gone
This one is going down to the wire. The Eels can’t put the home team away and they score on the back of repeat sets. Even worse is the fact that Justin Matamua is able to score under the posts, making the conversion attempt a simple throw over.
Try scored by Justin Matamua. Conversion successful by Christian Jardim.
Magpies lock the scores up at 16-all
63min gone
Ultimately neither team could close it out. The Eels had two chances to ice the game but an error and a missed field goal sees the game fizzle out into a draw. A rather cruel result for both the Eels and the Magpies seeing as it leaves both teams still winless on the season, albeit with a competition point to their names now.
Full Time
Parramatta Eels 16 draw with the Western Suburbs Magpies 16
Hey tct what happend to the juniors not going very well . The eels were always very strong I think we have gone backwards in these grades. We use to smoke teams . Bring back whoever was in charge before it went backwards.
That was a harsh call from you Anon before the matches were played yesterday – which meant only two rounds in!
Still, the Matts and Ball came up winless in round three and need to lift. It hasn’t been the ideal start to the season and I’m sure that the coaches and players are disappointed. To be fair, even though they need to do better, there were some head scratching calls yesterday that were critical to the results.
Credit to the Gale team who continue to improve.
Anon, you must be thinking way back, 2018 was the last comp we won, and that was the first in quite a while.
Does anyone know how the hell Parra let Myles Martin leave the club? This retention bungle will come back to bite us in the proverbial and then some!!
I can somewhat agree but heard it was possibly $$. Not 100% i always thought he was a quality player too and he is
I believe he has a strong future Milo.
He is a quality player but I’m not sure what could have been done to prevent it.
Hi Sixties. Tell me, do the juniors play the same football as the seniors or do they have their own autonomy on how they want to play? I would think how we want to play in the NRL is how we should be training our juniors to play and the style we want.