As the Dyldam Parramatta Eels prepare to take on the Cronulla Sharks this weekend at Pirtek Stadium for the third annual Johnny Mannah Cup, we take a look at their last enounter which occured in Round 21, 2014 where the Blue and Gold came away 32-12 victors.
Debutant Bureta Faraimo crossing for two tries whilst cult hero Fui Fui Moi Moi celebrated his 100th NRL game with a convincing victory at Remondis Stadium.
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Match Report
The Blue and Gold burst out of the gates early, looking close to scoring a try via Ryan Morgan in just the 14 seconds.
Denied for a early knock on, the Eels regrouped to score just four minutes in thanks to a brilliant solo effort from Jarryd Hayne. Ryan Morgan evened the score a little for his disallowed try by offloading to Semi Radradra for the big winger’s 16th try of the season.
The Sharks pushed back hard in attack but it took 30 minutes to crack the Eels line and put points on the board, as Fa’amanu Brown took an Andrew Fifita offload and scored in the right corner. The home team couldn’t capitalise again before the break, and the Eels headed back to the sheds with a slim 12-6 lead.
The Eels mirrored their first half run out with a fired up start to the second half, with Chris Sandow floating across field and offloading a beauty to Peni Terepo to score just 6 minutes in.
And debutant Bureta Faraimo joined him on the scoresheet as Sandow spread the football wide through Will Hopoate to the winder on the right edge for a four-pointer in his first NRL appearance.
Sharks fullback Michael Gordon was hard to handle in attack and his efforts paid off with a line break allowing young winger Valentine Holmes to pass to halfback Jeff Robson for a try next to the posts to keep the home side in the game.
But with a loose ball close to the try line at the end of a Sharks set, the locals unwittingly gave Hayne the chance to dart through a gap and run 90m to score his second try of the day and seal victory for the Blue and Gold.
The Eels finished off the milestone day with a second try to debutant Faraimo, running in another four-pointer off some smart play from Will Hopoate and pushing the score to a 20-point margin.
In the second half, Junior Paulo was placed on report for a tackle on Sharks fullback, Michael Gordon.
Dyldam Parramatta Eels - 32 (Hayne 2, Radradra, Terepo, Faraimo 2. Sandow: 4/6)
Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks - 12 (Brown, Robson. Gordon: 2/2)
