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Photo: Anthony Johnson © nrlphotos.com

The Dyldam Parramatta Eels have dealt a crushing 46-4 victory to the Newcastle Knights in the Holden Cup on Sunday afternoon at Hunter Stadium. 

Smarting from a disappointing 40-22 loss at home to the Gold Coast Titans in Round 6, the young Blue and Gold side was imposing from the outset, with Addas Miski crashing over early, only to be denied for tackling his defender while contesting the ball.

While the Knights opened the scoring through Brady Smith in the 7th minute, following a passage of free-flowing sets from both sides, the Eels quickly answered back through the in-form Atini Gafa on the left edge.

Tom Amone hit a short pass from his half and flicked an offload over his shoulder to let Nathan Davis score the Eels' second of the day on the same left edge, and the young Parramatta side set up a happy hunting ground in the Knights’ end.

In the 27th minute Tyrell Fuimaono sent a neat left-to-right pass onto fullback Bevan French, who ran around the right-hand-side defenders to ground the football.

Jordan Muna went alone in the 29th minute from 15 metres out, using sheer strength and leg speed to find the line, before being held up several minutes later on the hunt for his second four-pointer of the day.

Abbas Miski was perfectly positioned on the right edge in the 33rd minute to score from a sneaky chip kick, and the Blue and Gold headed to the break with a commanding 28-4 lead.

Miski was also the man to break the twenty-minute stalemate that opened the second half, when fullback Bevan French found room on the right edge and offloaded to his winger to finish the play. 

The young Eels stayed focussed through the closing twenty minutes, piling on pressure in defence and keeping the home side scoreless for 73 minutes, while the Blue and Gold attack continued to fire.

French struck in the dying minutes, showing off his footwork to weave through the defence, and reach backwards to score after being tackled just before the line. Halfback Zach Dockar-Clay piled on the misery in the last sixty seconds as he broke through the Knights’ line to run half a length and score under the posts.

With centre Nathan Davis’ boot on song, missing just one from eight attempts, the Blue and Gold went home 46-4 winners.

Dyldam Parramatta Eels - 46 (Gafa, Davis, French 2, Muna, Miski 2, Dockar-Clay. Davis: 7/8)

Newcastle Knights - 4 (Smith. Donovan: 0/1)

Acknowledgement of Country

Parramatta Eels respect and honour the Traditional Custodians of the land and pay our respects to their Elders past, present and future. We acknowledge the stories, traditions and living cultures of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples on the lands we meet, gather and play on.

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