Parramatta Eels maintain their unbeaten start to The Knock-On Effect NSW Cup season with a 23-16 win over Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, played in greasy conditions at CommBank Stadium.
The Eels' win was built on a strong first-half performance that saw the home side lead 12-0 at the break and 18-0 early in the second half.
But the Bulldogs showed great tenacity in getting back into the game, trailing 22-16 late in the second half before a Ronald Volkman field goal in the dying minutes finally put the win out of reach.
With the game played in wet and slippery conditions early on, both sides struggled to acclimatise. But it was the Eels who broke the deadlock after 26 minutes when fullback Joash Papalii cut back inside with a right foot step to evade defenders and score next to the posts against his former side (6-0).
The Eels doubled their lead on the stroke of half-time when hooker Brendan Hands' kick from dummy half deflected into the in-goal and interchange forward Saxon Pryke was first on hand to ground the loose ball.
Ill discipline from the Bulldogs in the opening set of the second half was duly punished when the Eels scored in the 42nd minute through Papalii turning provider - this time making the line-break from 25m out before providing the perfect pass for his winger Sean Russell to cross over in the south-east corner (18-0).
However an error from the kick-off from the Eels enabled the Bulldogs to finally open their account, when a quick shift right created the numbers for winger Jonathan Sua to score in the north-east corner to trail 18-6 following the successful sideline conversion from fullback Blake Taaffe.
Another Bulldogs error was the catalyst for the Eels to again extend their lead beyond two converted tries, when a quick shift right deep inside the Bulldogs 20-metre zone resulted in centre Bailey Simonssen providing a late off-load for his winger Haze Dunster to dive over from close range (22-6).
A long-range line-break from centre Danny Gabrael allowed the Bulldogs to score from the next play in the 65th minute, when quick hands allowed halfback Cassius Tia to provide a deft pass for interchange forward Fahmy Toilalo to storm through a yawning gap. The gap was reduced to 12 (22-10).
The Bulldogs were right back in the game when a last tackle penalty inside the Eels 20-metre line was duly capitalised upon, with Tia slicing through to put the visitors to within a converted try, with nine minutes remaining.
However, the Bulldogs late comeback was quashed with key errors providing the Eels with the opportunity to score one last time, which they did in the 77th minute when Volkman nailed a simple field goal attempt from 15 metres out, right in front.
