Report: NSW Cup Round 2 vs Eels

The Magpies went close to levelling the match at 14-14 with a few minutes remaining but couldn’t secure a late try.

Haze Dunster scored in the corner to open the scoring for the Eels and Josh Lynn’s support play in backing up a line-break made it 8-0 after 12 minutes.

The Magpies’ first try came via a perfectly worked scrum play, with Heath Mason and Charlie Staines combining to put Alex Lobb over in the corner.

A neat wrap-around play with Bryce Cartwright helped set up Parramatta’s next try to Dean Hawkins in the 33rd minute.

The Eels led 14-4 at half-time and the match developed into a real grind in the second period.

Both teams went set-for-set, with Wests at one point dropping the ball close to the line when it looked certain that they’d break the second-half deadlock.

In the 74th minute though, Tristan Hope took matters into his own hands and burrowed over from dummy-half to get the Magpies back in the match at 14-10.

It looked as if the Magpies were set to score a match-levelling try not long after, however Jayden Tanner’s looping pass was intercepted by the opposition.

Meni Luke grabbed a four-pointer late on for Parramatta to seal the match on the bell, with the final score reading 20-10 to the home side at Ringrose Park.

Eels 20 (Dunster, Lynn, Hawkins, Luke tries; Papalii 2/2 goals, Lynn 0/2 goals) defeated Magpies 10 (Lobb, Hope tries; Lobb 1/2 goals) at Ringrose Park.