Round 5
Penrith Panthers 14 l. Parramatta Eels 27

2007 NRL Telstra Premiership Index [Table] [Draw] [Player Stats] [Club Headlines]

Location: Aus_NZ > National > First Grade Competition: NRL Telstra Premiership

Eels make it three on the trot as Panthers lose two at home
Sat April 14, 2007
Parramatta has made it three wins on the trot as they handed Penrith a second successive loss on home soil winning 27-14 in front of over 18,000 fans at CUA Stadium.

The Eels started the season with two disappointing losses, however, the last three weeks has seen them build steadily into the season ahead.

Early penalty goals from Michael Gordon in the 4th minute and Luke Burt in the 11th minute opened up the scoring for both sides.

Burt crossed for the opening try in the 14th minute when he backed up down the middle following a break from Jarryd Hayne who did a superb job to draw in Rhys Wesser and give Burt a free run to the line.

Penrith bounced back crossing for two tries in five minutes as they caught out the Eels left side defence on both occasions with Gordon scoring in the 18th minute and Wesser crossing in the 23rd minute. The Panthers received a lucky break when Burt lost control the ball trying to put it down one hand instead of with two hands.

With the Panthers up 12-8 it was again up to Nathan Hindmarsh to provide the difference when he hit a perfect line from a superb inside ball by Tim Smith to cross over in the 31st minute.

Penrith denied an opportunity to land a penalty goal on the stroke of half-time and failed to cross for the try with the Eels leading by two at the break.

The scores were locked up in the 54th minute when the Panthers didn't turn down another opportunity for two points and Gordon added the easy goal.

Parramatta came home the stronger side and the crucial moment came in the 65th minute when Ben Smith made a sensational break down the right hand side with Burt again on the inside to support the ball carrier and this time he put the ball down with control.

Ian Hindmarsh of all people landed an important left foot drop goal from 15m with nine minutes remaining on the clock. The snap shot took everyone by surprise and to the delight of his Parramatta team mates.

The lesser known of the Hindmarsh brothers capped off a fine game with a powerful try in the dying stages to seal an impressive win for the Eels.

Tim Smith's performance was most certainly the highlight for the Eels as he shrugged off the nightmare of his 2006 season.

After the match, Smith said, "I'm starting to see things a little bit better at the moment which is good, my vision has been down a bit I think.

"When you play halfback you've got to have good peripheral vision and I think it's starting to come back now.

"It's something I need to do and once that starts happening I can put the ball where it needs to be and hopefully I can get some tries.

"Maturity is a big thing, I'm still only 22.

"It's coming, it's only two games that I've played half decent in so I've still got a long way to go."

A disappointed Penrith coach Matthew Elliott said, "We're making errors at crucial times when we've got teams under some pressure. A bit of personal accountability at crucial times.

"The frustrating thing is I know what this team's capable of doing and coaches by nature aren't patient people.

"They made errors and they made them on play six - we made errors and we made on plays one, two and three. The game doesn't work that way."

Penrith had impressive victories against The Bulldogs and Brisbane in Round's 2 and 3, however their losses in recent weeks to the Titans and Eels on home soil has put a damper on their season to date.

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