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Eels crush depleted Cowboys 44-14
Parra's Luke Burt gets away from Aaron Payne and top Shane Tronc: NRL Rugby League Round 10 Parramatta Eels v North Queensland Cowboys at Parramatta Stadium, Saturday May 19th 2007 Saturday, May 19, 2007 - 9:18 PM North Queensland are facing a second dose of the State of Origin blues after going down to Parramatta 44-14 in their NRL clash at Parramatta Stadium. The Eels were never headed in registering their fifth win of the season, fullback Luke Burt enjoying a fruitful night with a personal tally of 24 points courtesy of a two tries and eight goals. It was an eerie case of deja vu for the Cowboys whose season unravelled during the corresponding period last year when they lost five of six matches with chief playmaker Johnathan Thurston and coach Graham Murray involved in the Origin series. Saturday night's match signalled the start of this year's Origin period - Thurston again absent along with forwards Carl Webb and Jacob Lillyman while Murray handed the coaching responsibilities over to assistant Ian Millward. Their absence was evident from the outset with the Eels racing in two tries via Feleti Mateo and Ben Smith to open up a 12-0 lead after as many minutes, Parramatta showing no signs of missing unavailable NSW duo Nathan Hindmarsh and Jarryd Hayne. Mateo's effort was all power while there was more than a touch of luck in Smith's effort after Cowboys fullback Matt Bowen curiously chose to kick out at a grubber in his own in goal rather than dive on it. The ball looped across the in-goal where Smith leapt high to beat two Cowboys players to score. Veteran Jason Smith, who was forced to shoulder nearly all of the playmaking responsibility without Thurston, sent Sione Faumuina over for his first try as a Cowboy to get the visitors on the board. North Queensland threatened again before a brilliant piece of ingenuity from Burt - where he regathered his own line-drop out - turned the momentum back in his side's favour with Mark Riddell barging over just before the break to set up a dominant 20-4 lead. The second half soon turned into a track meet with both sides scoring twice within an 11 minute period, the Cowboys defence unable to contain Parramatta's dummy half runners with PJ Marsh and Riddell running rampant. Burt scored his second 14 minutes from time to extend the home side's lead to beyond three converted tries before Aaron Cannings completed the rout when he ran through a tiring Cowboys defence to score a soft four-pointer in the dying stages. AAP Source: http://www.nrl.com.au/News/Latest...tabid/76/NewsId/5157/Default.aspx |