Eels clinical in demolition of Raiders

v BYE

A dominant performance from the Parramatta Eels, both in attack and defence, has seen them demolish the Canberra Raiders 36-6 at Pirtek Stadium this afternoon in front of 12947 fans.

The Raiders looked impressive from the opening whistle, making metres at will in their first couple of sets, and setting themselves up with some solid defence.

Against the flow of play, the Parramatta Eels were the first to score, as Corey Norman made a break and passed through to Michael Jennings to sprint away and score untouched. Gordon added the extras, and the Eels were off to a good start.

The Eels' left edge struck again in the 14th minute, and again it was the combination of Norman and Jennings that led to points. BJ Leilua embarassed himself with a lazy attempted tackle, but it was an impressive pass from Norman to set up the try.

With the Raiders' defence looking fragile on the right edge, Parramatta honed in and continued to attack that edge. But it was through the middle where the next points came, thanks to a Fittler-esque sidestep from Kieran Foran.

The Eels further extended their lead in the 31st minute, with Beau Scott swooping on a rebounded kick. Gordon converted for the fourth time, and took the Eels to a 24 nil lead.

Canberra's best opportunity of the first half came in the 37th minute after a massive break from Jordan Rapana, but BJ Leilua dropped the ball only metres from the tryline.

The second half failed to reach the entertaining heights that the first half did. An ugly tackle from Shaun Fensom was placed on report in the 52nd minute, but the only real talking point of the second half was the Eels' rock solid defence.

The Raiders started the half with seven repeat sets attacking the Eels' line, yet could not crack the defence, neither out wide nor in the middle.

Instead, the Eels weathered the storm, and extended their lead in the 57th minute through Kenny Edwards. Michael Gordon added another two points.

The Raiders opened their account in the 64th minute, but it was too little, much too late.

A pinpoint accurate kick, and some great timing on a leap from Brad Takairangi saw the Eels score their sixth try with only five minutes remaining, and it was there that the score remained, with the Eels running out winners, 36-6.

Parramatta will take on the Manly Sea Eagles on Thursday night, while the Raiders will host the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks at GIO Stadium in Canberra on Sunday afternoon.