Sunday, April 04, 2004
Parra goes down 26 to 12
The Parramatta Eels vunerability against smaller, quicker running players was exposed on Saturday as Mark McLinden and former Eel Clinton Schifcofske made the Blue and Gold defence look inept for much of the 80 minutes.
The Eels went down 26 to 12 but were never in the game are giving up a 20 to nil lead before they managed to put on a late try at the end of the first half.
Mark McLinden was absolutely dynamic for the Raiders and every time he got the ball, Parra fans held their breath as the player once dubbed Supermac continually exposed Parramatta's defensive failings.
It was a big game for all of the former Parramatta Eels in the Canberra team. Schifofske was awesome continually stepping and cutting his way through the Eels defence, Ian Hindmarsh and Michael Hodgson both scored tries, Brad Drew made a successful return from injury and Adam Mogg made a fantastic line break and was great in defence.
The Eels made a solid start to the game. No early dropped balls and some tough running out of their own quarter gave Parra fans early confidence that the Eels might have gotten the early round dropsies out of their game and that they had turned up focused and ready to play against a tough Raiders outfit.
However, it was not long before Parramatta's much publicised defensive problems were once again shown up by the Raiders.
The Raiders got on the attack in Parramatta's quarter in the eight minute and sent the ball wide, with plenty of bodies in motion, Matt Peterson rushed up out of the line and made a horrendous attempt at what might have been mistaken for a tackle and allows Schifcoske to slide straight through and put the ball down.
In the 20th minute, Mark McLinden took the book dummied, stepped and cut straight through two of Parramatta's defensive anchors - Nathan Hindmarsh and Nathan Cayless - before drawing Luke Burt and putting Michael Hodgson in under the posts untouched.
Parra found themselves under continual pressure as McLinden, Schifcoske and co. continued to make line breaks, while Parramatta kept coughing up the pill, making it impossible for them to turn the tide. Adam Mogg made a sensational break, busting a tackle and then fending of Luke Burt not once, but twice only to lose the ball in a try-saving Eric Grothe tackle. Mick Vella then dropped the ball, as he has so many times this season, and from the ensuing six Canberra were over again. Once again they had plenty of runners in motion and Mark McLinden found centre James Evan, who was awarded a try after the video referee ruled there had been no obstruction.
Parramatta had shown little in attack in the first half. Only Eric Grothe and Adam Dykes were looking threatening, and it was Dykes who would give Parramatta a glimmer of hope when Daniel Wagon turned the ball back inside to Dykes who used some nice footwork and strength to crash over close to the line. Burt converted to send the teams into oranges at 20 to 6.
With interchange hooker James Webster sent back out to control dummy half in the second time that allowed Adam Dykes, and to a lesser extent John Morris, to be more creative and the Eels were rewarded 15 minutes in when a Dykes grubber allowed Burt to touch down next to the post. That made it 20 to 12 after the Burt conversion and Eels fans were allowed for the first time to think they were in with a shot. Dykes went close to scoring again when he grubbered for himself close to the line, however just when they were ready to apply the blowtorch, the Eels made simple handling errors. Daniel Wagon spilled a couple of balls when the Eels were in great attacking positions, but he wasn't the only Eels let down by their hands.
Parra's bad luck continued when Canberra almost scored after Ronald Prince's knee gave way in defence allowing the Canberra winger to break free.
With the clock ticking down and it looking more and more unlikely that Parramatta could score the two tries they needed to win the game, a Canberra decision to run the ball on the last tackle paid dividends. Starting with a deft Brad Drew pass, Canberra managed to keep the ball alive before finding Ian Hindmarsh who shrugged off an awful David Vaeliki attampt at tackle to touch down besides the post.
The clinical dispatch of the Eels was complete.
The Eels went down 26 to 12 but were never in the game are giving up a 20 to nil lead before they managed to put on a late try at the end of the first half.
Mark McLinden was absolutely dynamic for the Raiders and every time he got the ball, Parra fans held their breath as the player once dubbed Supermac continually exposed Parramatta's defensive failings.
It was a big game for all of the former Parramatta Eels in the Canberra team. Schifofske was awesome continually stepping and cutting his way through the Eels defence, Ian Hindmarsh and Michael Hodgson both scored tries, Brad Drew made a successful return from injury and Adam Mogg made a fantastic line break and was great in defence.
The Eels made a solid start to the game. No early dropped balls and some tough running out of their own quarter gave Parra fans early confidence that the Eels might have gotten the early round dropsies out of their game and that they had turned up focused and ready to play against a tough Raiders outfit.
However, it was not long before Parramatta's much publicised defensive problems were once again shown up by the Raiders.
The Raiders got on the attack in Parramatta's quarter in the eight minute and sent the ball wide, with plenty of bodies in motion, Matt Peterson rushed up out of the line and made a horrendous attempt at what might have been mistaken for a tackle and allows Schifcoske to slide straight through and put the ball down.
In the 20th minute, Mark McLinden took the book dummied, stepped and cut straight through two of Parramatta's defensive anchors - Nathan Hindmarsh and Nathan Cayless - before drawing Luke Burt and putting Michael Hodgson in under the posts untouched.
Parra found themselves under continual pressure as McLinden, Schifcoske and co. continued to make line breaks, while Parramatta kept coughing up the pill, making it impossible for them to turn the tide. Adam Mogg made a sensational break, busting a tackle and then fending of Luke Burt not once, but twice only to lose the ball in a try-saving Eric Grothe tackle. Mick Vella then dropped the ball, as he has so many times this season, and from the ensuing six Canberra were over again. Once again they had plenty of runners in motion and Mark McLinden found centre James Evan, who was awarded a try after the video referee ruled there had been no obstruction.
Parramatta had shown little in attack in the first half. Only Eric Grothe and Adam Dykes were looking threatening, and it was Dykes who would give Parramatta a glimmer of hope when Daniel Wagon turned the ball back inside to Dykes who used some nice footwork and strength to crash over close to the line. Burt converted to send the teams into oranges at 20 to 6.
With interchange hooker James Webster sent back out to control dummy half in the second time that allowed Adam Dykes, and to a lesser extent John Morris, to be more creative and the Eels were rewarded 15 minutes in when a Dykes grubber allowed Burt to touch down next to the post. That made it 20 to 12 after the Burt conversion and Eels fans were allowed for the first time to think they were in with a shot. Dykes went close to scoring again when he grubbered for himself close to the line, however just when they were ready to apply the blowtorch, the Eels made simple handling errors. Daniel Wagon spilled a couple of balls when the Eels were in great attacking positions, but he wasn't the only Eels let down by their hands.
Parra's bad luck continued when Canberra almost scored after Ronald Prince's knee gave way in defence allowing the Canberra winger to break free.
With the clock ticking down and it looking more and more unlikely that Parramatta could score the two tries they needed to win the game, a Canberra decision to run the ball on the last tackle paid dividends. Starting with a deft Brad Drew pass, Canberra managed to keep the ball alive before finding Ian Hindmarsh who shrugged off an awful David Vaeliki attampt at tackle to touch down besides the post.
The clinical dispatch of the Eels was complete.
