The Eels returned to winning ways in an entertaining 27-20 win over the North Queensland Cowboys at CommBank Stadium on Saturday.
Daejarn Asi proved the difference in a tense battle between the two sides, scoring a crucial try and field goal in the final 20 minutes to get the Eels across the line.
Clint Gutherson, Dylan Brown, and Joey Lussick were also immense, as the Eels’ spine steered the side to victory.
NRL Match Highlights: Eels v Cowboys
Asi and Lussick were joined on the scoresheet by Joe Ofahengaue and Morgan Harper, while Gutherson kicked five crucial goals.
The Cowboys started strongly and looked threatening all night, but Parramatta demonstrated tremendous poise and determination to earn their third win of 2024.
North Queensland opened proceedings with an early try to Jeremiah Nanai, but the Eels bounced back just five minutes later.
The Eels were quick to bounce back from their slow start, responding five minutes later.
J’maine Hopgood played the ball to Joe Ofahengaue close to the line, and the Eels prop powered through four defenders to score his first Parramatta try.
Ofahengaue powers to his first try
Clint Gutherson converted, and then kicked a penalty goal, to hand the Eels an 8-6 advantage.
The Cowboys retook the lead when Tom Chester sliced through out wide, but Parramatta came into their stride as the half progressed.
A sensational piece of play saw the Eels hit the front in the 26th minute, with Joey Lussick on the end of it.
The Eels drifted to the right before cutting back infield with silky offloads from Dylan Brown and Will Penisini, and Lussick popped up at the right place and right time to take possession and slide over.
Goergeous hands send Lussick in
Gutherson’s third goal of the first half bumped the Eels into a 14-10 lead, which they took into the break.
The Eels came flying out of the blocks in the second half as they set out to assert their dominance.
A deft kick by Dylan Brown rolled deep into the in-goal, and a persistent Morgan Harper tracked down the ball to score just inside the dead-ball line.
Persistence pays off for Harper
The Cowboys quickly ate into the Eels’ lead, scoring through Valentine Holmes to reduce the margin to six points.
With the game hanging in the balance, Daejarn Asi stood tall in the final 20 minutes to help deliver an important win for Parramatta.
Asi re-established the Eels’ two-score lead in the 61st minute when he exploited a gap in the goal-line defence off the back of some crafty play by Clint Gutherson.
Asi on the spot
The arm-wrestle affair continued to play out when the Cowboys struck back with a long-range try finished off by Scott Drinkwater, but the Eels kept their cool.
Daejarn Asi calmly iced the match with a field goal in the 76th minute, capping off a fantastic night for the five-eighth and his team.
Daejarn delivers for Parramatta
The Eels will hope to carry their momentum into next week’s match against the Dolphins, in Parramatta’s annual trip to Darwin.
