Parramatta Eels v Canberra Raiders - Parramatta Stadium. April 12, 2010.
2nd minute - Feleti Mateo gives away a penalty. How can this be the very first thing you do during a game?
3rd minute - Daniel Mortimer smartly cleans up a dangerous in-goal kick from the Raiders. Terry Campese doing a lot of talking to teammates early in this one. Mortimer and Campese should be doing more of this (respectively) at the back end of games.
4th minute - Bronson Harrison loses momentum for his team with a turnover. Eels get a penalty and suddenly the good start and mounting pressure applied by the Raiders is undone. Good footballers try to make up for errors like this - let's see what Harrison does.
7th minute - A Joel Reddy bust up the right side ends in a pushed pass and turnover.
8th minute - The Canberra Raiders give some credibility to our match preview and turn possession back over to the Eels. The Eels fans are now right into this match. They are obviously desperate for a good performance and as mentioned by Pistol Pete in his lock of the week; they might voice their displeasure if the poor performances continue this evening.
10th minute - Wonderful left to right cut out pass from Campese as the Raiders look more likely to build pressure in these early stages. The Eels, on the other hand, look distracted as they have for much of the season.
12th minute - Shaun Fensom, the Raiders newest 'workhorse' back rower, is over for first points. Funny thing about Parra - they have all the big names on their roster... but if you are willing to "outwork" them, as Fensom is doing so far, you can usually cause problems. Raiders 6-0.
14th minute - The all important 'follow up' set of six is a good one. The Raiders go 80 metres.
16th minute - Great sequence with the Raiders almost scoring through Croker and the Eels responding with a mid-field bust from their own try line after great ball movement. They then get a penalty and fail to find touch. Laurie Daley completes the amateur hour display with some dubious commentary. I might hit the mute button.
Another penalty, this time to the Raiders, as we get a close up view of Daniel Vidot's haircut for the evening. (red tips?) Interesting. Another penalty to the Eels restricts the flow of this game.
22nd minute - Eels take advantage of field position as Tahu absolutely abuses Joel Thompson with a fantastic right foot step and fend and puts Luke Burt over for the Eels. Raiders 6-4.
27th minute - Vidot and his fiery tips accept a perfectly placed kick by Raiders halfback Josh McCrone. Vidot over in the corner and Campese converts a beauty. Raiders 12-4.
According to this Blogs match preview - the Raiders will not score any more points in this match. Seems I am mistaken once again.
30th minute - How on earth did Daniel Vidot not score from another perfect attacking kick? Desperate Eels defence, that's how. Interesting to note that we have not been able to describe the Eels defence this way so far this season. They reap the rewards and receive a penalty. Eels on the attack.
32nd minute - What a spin move!! Mortimer floats a nice face ball across the Raiders defensive line to Mateo who catches and spins around a helpless Josh McCrone and puts Burt over in the corner. Luke converts his own try and the Raiders now lead 12-10.
36th minute. Joel Thompson looked as though he was trying to pick a fight with Jarryd Hayne in the Indigenous All Stars match earlier in 2010. Perhaps he has the last word in this one man rivalry after making a break down the Eels left side, selling about 32 dummies, and then stepping inside Hayne to score.
Interesting to note about this try - it it 4 minutes before halftime, Thompson is not known as a dangerous centre, and he runs 30 metres in field after the initial bust to beat Jarryd Hayne with no cover defence from the Eels coming across, AND it's the last tackle. These are all signs of a lack of professional attitude from the home side.
Halftime.
41st minute - Parramatta's first act of this second half (similar to the first half) is to give away a penalty. They need a spark as the Raiders forwards seem more motivated to win the ruck and are falling forward with each tackle and dominating the middle of the field. Is this the Eels problem this year? A soft middle?
43rd minute - Kris Keating provides that spark and earns his team a repeat set after a great chase from Justin Horo.
46th minute - Daniel Mortimer now impresses with a cleverly placed grubber and the Eels have back to back sets. Great Collision from the ensuing drop-out return as Tim Mannah bounces off Trevor Thurling. Awesome.
47th minute - Building pressure is so important. The Raiders fail to collect a loose ball and Parramatta score the luckiest try in Rugby League history. However, you make your own luck at this level. Raiders now lead 18-14.
50th minute - The Eels fail to maintain this pressure and Trevor Thurling busts the defensive line wide open from his own half. McCrone grubbers beautifully for himself from the next ruck to score a fantastic try. Jarryd Hayne has looked off his game 3 times in this match - compared to his usually impressive form at the back, this comes as a shock - he is human. Campo converts and the Raiders pull away again, 24-14.
Thought - 25 minutes to go and the Eels are struggling, it must be said. They are in danger of losing to the Sharks and the Raiders in consecutive weeks.
56th minute - Parra realise the urgency of the situation and throw everything at the visitors. They are in attack mode and Tahu looks most likely once again. It's now frantic as Joel Reddy throws an elbow to the face of Terry Campese whilst trying to force the pace. A penalty against the home side is given and destroys their momentum. Poor kick to end the next Raiders set as they fail to capitalise.
59th minute - The Raiders now smell the blood and run riot in attack but it is slightly out of control (campo?). They run it on the last and relinquish possession.
Thought - This is the same period of time in the Raiders v Brisbane match where Terry Campese was struggling to control possession for his side. Let's see how he handles himself here. Raiders still lead 24-14.
61st minute - Timana Tahu makes a big play for the Eels and steals possession. He still seems most likely to make something happen.
63rd minute - Hayne chip kicks to Dugan who cannot control the ball and gives the Eels a great chance to peg back some points and set up a big finish. They don't. A poor kick ends the next set of six and the Raiders are now content to run down the clock and play percentage football.
67th minute - The Eels slow to get back from a Raiders kick and look bunched. They turn it over from a forward pass. Tough call though on replay but the future looks dark and gloomy for the home side.
70th minute - The Raiders look certain to score through Croker in the left corner but Ben Smith makes one of the defensive plays of the season so far and makes a miraculous try saving tackle. Ben's teammates reward him for this effort by knocking-on early in the ensuing set. You can hear a pin drop at Parra Stadium.
Fans are aware it’s almost impossible for the Eels to win from here.
72nd minute - Campese has his kick charged down and the Eels are awarded a penalty to get them within scoring range. They are taking hit ups at the try line with 'one out' plays. No structure.
73rd minute - Josh Dugan pushes an in-goal grubber kick dead to save a certain Ben Smith try. Raiders drop out and still lead 24-14.
75th minute – The referees call back a Hayne forward pass as Des Hasler pops a blood vessel somewhere in the Northern Beaches. Game over for Parramatta as the Raiders defy their reputation and win away. In fact they led impressively from start to finish.
76th minute - Eels have given up and are taking one out hit ups. Understandable.
Thought - PISTOL PETE'S LOCK OF THE WEEK is now 5 from 5 including tipping against the Eels as heavy favourites two weeks in a row. He is on fire.
80th minute - Parra having a crack at something in attack but it's all over and Pistol Pete's other prediction comes true. You can hear BOO's coming from the home crowd. Raiders win 24-14.
See you next week for the blockbuster between Manly and Melbourne from the Storm's new home stadium.
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