The Dyldam Parramatta Eels Under 20s side has held out the Bulldogs for a 30-10 win on Friday night at ANZ Stadium.
The Blue and Gold put on a powerful display through the first forty minutes, and held out the home side through a rocky second half to secure their first win of 2015.
Aaron Pene popped the ball to Tui Oloapu to open the Eels’ account early in the match, and halfback Zach Dockar-Clay extended the side’s lead with a clean left-foot step tp break the line and ground the football.
Pene muscled over himself on a right side play in the 26th minute, and five-eighth Bevan French added to the Dogs’ misery with a classy line-break to shrug off two defenders and score beside the posts.
Fullback Nathan Davis was less reliable than usual, and it was only by virtue of a handful of missed conversions and a late first-half try to centre John Fomai that the Bulldogs headed back to the sheds trailing just 18-4.
The standard of play faltered in the second forty minutes as both home and away sides encountered dramas controlling the football, and it took a penalty on the halfway line to boost the Eels upfield to extend their lead. Rolling off their kick into touch, Eels’ interchange hooker Alec Bush darted from dummy half to score in the 60th minute.
With just over ten minutes on the clock, Fomai made it a double for the Bulldogs, but the Blue and Gold had the final word from an unlikely source as prop Craig Field charged in a try just before the siren.
With three goals from Nathan Davis, the Eels notched up their first win of the season, 30-10.
Dyldam Parramatta Eels - 30 (Oloapu, Dockar-Clay, Pene, French, Bush, Field. Davis: 3/6)
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs - 10 (Fomai 2. Cox: 1/2)
