Eels continue fairytale march

The PARRAMATTA EELS continued their fairytale story when defeating the Canterbury Bulldogs 22-12 in last night's NRL preliminary final at ANZ Stadium.
It is the first grand final appearance for the Eels since 2001, however, they have a few concerns heading into the match, where they will play either Melbourne Storm or Brisbane Broncos.
Star player Jarryd Hayne along with Matt Keating and skipper Nathan Cayless all have an anxious wait to see if they are available to play in Sunday week's grand final. Hayne was placed on report for using knees in an attempt to stop Bryson Goodwin from scoring, while Matt Keating will also have to answer a charge of wrenching the arm of Ben Hannant.
Cayless suffered a hamstring injury early in the game and did not return.
The contest was furious early, with the Bulldogs definitely having the upper hand, hitting the Eels' forward with ferocity and making plenty of ground in attack.
Goodwin opened the scoring in the 4th minute and was given an eight-point try for Hayne's indiscretion, but Hazem El Masri missed the conversion from out wide before getting the second one from in front.
Bulldogs fullback Luke Patten was knocked unconscious in the first minute of play, forcing coach Kevin Moore to shuffle his backline, with El Masri going to fullback and Yileen Gordon coming in on the wing.
Joe Galuvao levelled scores for the Eels on 24 minutes, and while it looked likely that they would score next, it was the Bulldogs who scored a freakish try 4 minutes from the break.
With a grubber kick into the in-goal area, Hayne appeared to have it covered before it got away from him, allowing Josh Morris to score.
Luke Burt got the Eels back to within two on 50 minutes, with the blue and gold's going in front for good just five minutes later through Tim Mannah's first try.
Holding a 16-12 lead and with the game delicately poised, each side had their chances to score, but it wasn't until Daniel Mortimer's try on 72 minutes which sealed their spot in the final.
The Eels have now won 10 of their last 11 matches and beaten the top three sides to progress to the grand final.

 

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