Gutherson, Moses stand up to salvage win in fiery Titans clash
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A Mitch Moses field goal helped the Eels to a hard-fought 25-24 win in dramatic scenes at CommBank Stadium on Sunday.
Moses, fresh off enjoying his first Origin victory on Wednesday, stepped up to slot a one-pointer from in front with five minutes remaining after the Eels scored late through Clint Gutherson to level the scores at 24-24.
Despite Tanah Boyd's best efforts to send the game into golden point late, his two field goal attempts didn't come off with the Eels securing a vital victory in the race for a top eight finish.
Clutch Moses nails the field goal
It was all Parramatta to start, with the home side boasting a 12-0 lead after 11 minutes until a dramatic double sin-binning of Maika Sivo and Reagan Campbell-Gillard allowed the Titans to steal the lead by half-time.
Eels hooker Brendan Hands put Regan Campbell-Gillard through the line with a nice short ball from close range, handing Parramatta an early lead.
The Eels extended their lead in the 11th minute when Will Penisini recovered a loose ball before exploding into space on the right edge for the side's second.
The Titans hit back just four minutes later, with Alofiana Khan-Pereira crossing for his 16th try of the season courtesy of some nice lead-up work from David Fifita and Isaac Liu on the left edge.
Khan-Pereira gets the Titans level
Things started to heat up when the Eels lost both winger Sivo and Campbell-Gillard for dangerous tackles, handing the Titans a two-man playing advantage for seven minutes.
With 10 in the frontline and just Gutherson out the back, the Titans quickly found the gaps with wingers Phil Sami and Khan-Pereira both capitalising with tries before Sivo returned to the field with his side now chasing a two-point Titans lead.
There was no cooling off in the break with the first tackle of the second half seeing Titans skipper Tino Fa'asuamaleaui penalised for a shoulder charge on Campbell-Gillard.
The see-sawing battle continued to play out in the second term with a Bryce Cartwright try quickly cancelled out by Boyd capitalising off an offload close to the line.
Cartwright wrestles his way over
Come the 66th minute and the Eels faithful were on their feet when Gutherson created something out of nothing, cleaning up a loose ball before charging downfield to score next to the left corner flag and draw the scores level.
A frantic final 14 minutes then unfolded with both sides were chasing a one-pointer. Moses guided a goal through the sticks with three minutes to play and with Boyd missing both of his shots, that was enough to wrap up Parramatta's 10th win of the season.
Match: Eels v Titans
Round 20 -
home Team
Eels
7th Position
away Team
Titans
13th Position
Venue: CommBank Stadium, Sydney
Match Snapshot
- Eels winger Maika Sivo was placed on report in the 21st minute for a dangerous tackle on Jojo Fifita, which he also spent 10 minutes in the sin-bin for.
- Eels forward Reagan Campbell-Gillard was also placed on report and spent time in the bin for a dangerous tackle on Titans hooker Chris Randall.
- Titans rookie Alofiana Khan-Pereira has scored six try doubles since making his debut in Round 1. The 21-year-old has scored 17 tries in his first 16 NRL games.
- Despite spending 10 minutes in the bin Campbell-Gillard got through plenty of work for the Eels with 173 run metres and 20 tackles.
- Eels fullback Clint Gutherson has now scored seven tries in his past four NRL games.
- The Titans have won only four from 10 away from home this season.
- Titans centre Brian Kelly left the field for a HIA in the 50th minute which he later passed.
Play of the Game
If it wasn't Clint Gutherson's play with five minutes left to kick for his outside man Bailey Simonsson to make space downfield for Mitchell Moses to slot the field goal moments later, it was his ability to get the ball down within millimetres of going out to level the game. Two big plays from the Eels fullback that proved the difference.
How did Gutho get this down!
What They Said
"If we didn't have bad luck at the moment then we wouldn't have any luck at all. We went down to Canberra by four, we went down to Dolphins by two and we went down to Parramatta by one. All the bad luck we've had in the last couple of weeks, it's come against us a little bit. All I'm really proud of the boys, we're certainly going through a transition where we're putting ourselves into the game by being really physical. At the moment we're forging a new identity and are working really hard, I'm very proud of where we are at the moment but just not getting any luck at the moment." - Titans interim coach Jim Lenihan
Titans: Round 20
"It was a crazy game of footy, it was start and it was stop, every time we play the Gold Coast it seems to go that way. It's hard to win an NRL game and we did it with 11 players. There's plenty of things I could be critical of, but we won a tight game and it's going to be crucial towards the end of the year. There's no malice, it was just sloppy (sin bins). Every now and then you practice a bit of 12 men stuff but not 11. I'm extremely proud, it throws everything out and to find a way to get the result was really important for us." - Eels coach Brad Arthur
Eels: Round 20
What's Next
The Titans host the Roosters in a Saturday afternoon clash at Cbus Super Stadium while the Eels can enjoy a seven-day turnaround before heading north to meet with the high-flying Cowboys.
