Junior Reps Wrap: Eels Clean Sweep Week 2 of the Finals Series

The Eels have qualified for a spot in week three of the Lisa Fiaola Cup finals after disposing of the Panthers at Parker Street Reserve on Saturday.

In a gripping contest, the Eels crossed for five tries against a Panthers team that refused to surrender.

Penrith scored early after snatching an intercept on their own line, then securing a repeat set inside Parra’s red zone. Their converted try took them to a six point lead inside the first five minutes.

A Panthers error in yardage then provided the opportunity for Parra to strike back. Big carries from Sharon Latapu, Catea Duff, Olivia Saba, and Isabella Bell had the Eels applying pressure to the Penrith try line, before the Eels ran it on the last tackle. A right side shift opened a channel for Cody Tuimaseve who crossed out wide.

Parra had a clear plan which again proved successful when Sharon Latapu called play to the right before feeding a pass to Kaizen Morgan-Pritchard for the Eels second try.

The Eels had a four point lead after 18 minutes but the remainder of the half was an arm wrestle with neither side able to add to their score. Though leading 10 to 6, the Eels knew they’d have to make better use of their opportunities after the break.

When play resumed both sides struggled to complete their sets, but it was the Eels who paid the price when the Panthers took the lead with a converted try after eleven minutes.

A Panthers error after the kick off allowed the Eels to quickly strike back and it came from a powerful charge by Evelyn Kuwendu after sharp play from her fellow forwards in front of the Panthers posts.

Bailey Ma-Chong’s conversion restored the Eels four point buffer with fifteen minutes remaining but in front of their home crowd, the Panthers weren’t going away. With the encouragement of their supporters ringing in their ears they put the challenge back to the Eels.

After defending their line in the face of threatening Panthers attack, the Eels rose to the occasion and extended their lead to eight points via a try to Freedom Crichton Ropati. 

It came after the Eels forced a line drop out through driving defence, and in the ensuing set a right side play saw Kaizen Morgan-Pritchard sling a basketball style cutout pass to Freedom Crichton Ropati near the goal line and the blockbusting winger was too strong and too quick for the Panthers cover.

All of the running was now with the Eels and a late tackle from a Panthers player resulted in a sin bin and a numbers advantage to the Eels. Bailey Ma-Chong finally put the exclamation mark on the match when she sent Mere Sivo on a steamrolling run towards the posts and the Eels forward planted the ball beside the left upright.

Parramatta now move on to week three of the finals where they will face the undefeated Bulldogs in Saturday’s grand final qualifier at The Oaks.

Eels 26 (Tries: Cody Tuimaseve, Kaizen Morgan-Pritchard, Evelyn Kuwendu, Freedom Crichton Ropati, Mere Sivo; Goals: Bailey Ma-Chong 3) defeated Panthers 12.

Tarsha Gale Cup

Parramatta registered the second victory of the day over their western Sydney rivals when they were too strong for the Panthers in the Tarsha Gale Cup.

This victory avenged their defeat at the hands of the Panthers earlier this season and continues their rich vein of form at the business end of the season.

However, the Eels had to overcome the worst possible start, conceding an early try in their first set in defence.

The strike back came soon after when Khyliah Gray worked a scrum play with Taylah Falaniko, turning her back inside the Panthers sliding defence for a try to the right of the posts.

As the game approached the half time mark, Parra’s second phase play and ball movement was proving a challenge for the Panthers defence. Ultimately, it was an offload from Ryvrr-Lee Alo which proved to be the catalyst for their next try, scored by left centre Sammy-Lee Gunn-Tauai.

With momentum on their side, the Eels pushed their advantage from the kick off, driving play downfield then running the ball on the last tackle. Once more they found success on the left, as Matoisha Kalepo passed to Sualo Lafoga for another try in the corner

Leading by ten points at the break, the Eels picked up where they left off with a try in their first possession of the second half.

Two strong charges from Tess McWilliams took the play right to the Panthers line. The Eels again took the option to run the ball on the last tackle, and a late offload from Khyliah Gray was scooped up by Fontayne Tufuga before the ball went through Alleya Scrivens to Avena Racoma Ngata who touched down in the right corner.

Unfortunately, the Eels made an error in the set after points which allowed the Panthers to reply with an unconverted try of their own.

Penrith then returned the favour with a mistake of their own from the kick off as Parra re-established their fourteen point lead. This time it was Fontayne Tufuga proving too strong for the defence after she received a ball on the right edge close to the line.

The Panthers cover defence was working overtime but it continued to deny the Eels. A superb offload from Ryvrr-Lee Alo put Dallis Graham-Withell into open spaces for what seemed to be a certain try. However, a miraculous chase and tackle from a Panthers player held her up over the line.

Not long after the Eels were again denied by the desperate Penrith defence when the ball was lost in contact over the line.

On the back of this, the Panthers lifted the tempo of their attack and posted a converted try, reducing the Eels lead to eight points with less than ten minutes remaining.

Parra finally wrapped up the match when Lilieta Pouli received the ball close to the posts and stepped off her left foot to get past the defenders and crash over the line.

The Eels now advance to week three of the finals on Saturday at The Oaks where their opponent will be the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs.

Eels 28 (Tries: Taylah Falaniko, Sammy-Lee Gunn-Tauai, Sualo Lafoga, Avena Racoma Ngata, Fontayne Tufuga, Lilieta Pouli; Goals: Alleya Scrivens 2) defeated Panthers 12.

SG Ball Cup

The Eels bounced back from their only defeat of the season when they outgunned the Storm in week two of the SG Ball finals at Penrith on Saturday.

Though not quite at their best, Parra did well to overcome a fired up Storm side that repeatedly took the game to the competition’s minor premiers in a tough physical contest.

Early errors from the Eels, and an aggressive attitude from Melbourne, saw much of the opening fifteen minutes played in the Eels half. A try by the Storm’s dummy half during this period provided them with a four point lead and reminded the Eels that this was finals football.

A Storm error at their own end of the field finally allowed the Eels to strike back. After taking play towards the posts, a left side shift saw Andes Johansson set up Aidan Kebourian for a diving finish in the corner.

The superb sideline conversion from Lincoln Fletcher provided the Eels with a two point lead, and though the match remained tense, from there they were never headed.

Late first half tries to the Eels would prove to be significant.

The first of these came when Tom Summer split the Storm defence then found Max Popo in support. Popo still had plenty of work to do but managed to ground the ball despite the attention of multiple Melbourne defenders.

Parra then put the pedal to the metal from the kick off, with the forwards making light work of getting the ball back over halfway. After the desperate Storm defence was penalised for a strip, the Eels were in Melbourne’s red zone with the siren close to sounding.

Enter the Eels spine! On tackle two the ball went from Lachlan Coinakis, to Lincoln Fletcher, to Lorenzo Talataina, then Cameron Bamblett before Aidan Kebourian received the final pass to register a first half try double.

The Eels hit the sheds with a twelve point lead and they started the second half in the best possible fashion.

A penalty against the Storm put the Eels on attack in Melbourne’s quarter, and Elijah-Shane Tapau’s crash play saw him bust through the defence to post the Eels fourth try.

Melbourne struck back soon afterwards after a deflected kick resulted in a full set of their own in Parra’s quarter. A right side shift produced the goods when they crossed in the corner to bring the deficit back to twelve points.

Momentum had shifted to the Storm and an Eels error in yardage allowed Melbourne to a launch another attack, scoring once more in the right corner.

The missed conversion kept the Eels lead at greater than a converted try, but the tension was definitely rising. As time ticked away, a disallowed Eels try added to the drama. With tempers flaring the referee issued a caution to both captains to settle their teams down.

In the closing minutes, Melbourne had a try of their own disallowed before a lofted pass from Lorenzo Talataina to Dominic Farrugia saw the Eels right winger touch down as the final siren sounded.

The Eels now progress to the grand final qualifier against the Rabbitohs at Redfern Oval next Sunday.

Eels 24 (Tries: Aidan Kebourian 2, Max Popo, Elijah-Shane Tapau, Dominic Farrugia; Goals: Lincoln Fletcher 2) defeated Storm 12.