Sydney Roosters Nudge Out Parramatta Eels By One Point In Nail-Biting NRLW Match

By Danielle Smith

The Sydney Roosters have clinched a thrilling 19-18 victory against the Parramatta Eels on Sunday, in yet another exciting match in this season's NRLW.

With both sides scoring three converted tries during the match, a Zahara Temara field goal in the last three minutes saw the Roosters break the 18-18 deadlock and secure the win.

The Roosters took an early 12-0 lead with Brydie Parker and Mya Hill-Moana each scoring a try in the first ten minutes.

The Eels struck back through an Abbi Church try in the 18th minute, and her team went to the half time break trailing 12-6.

Parramatta levelled the score early in the second half with Christian Pio crossing for a four-pointer, and only minutes later the Eels took an 18-12 lead thanks to a Tiana Penitani try.

A barnstorming try from Sarah Togatuki's evened the score with 13 minutes to go, until teammate Temara locked up the win for the tri-colours with her one-point field goal, and kept her team in finals contention.

Isabelle Kelly had a solid game for the Roosters, topping the run metres with a massive 200. Eel's captain Simaima Taufa continued her strong form, leading the tackle count for the match with 51.

Rooster's coach John Strange admitted in the post-match press conference that the game was closer than he was hoping.

"We got off to a really good start. Out to 12-0, and I was hopeful that we would go on with it. But Parramatta are a really good team, they played really well, and they completed really high as we did," explained Strange.

"They are a really good side, and they fought their way back in. The most pleasing thing for me is that we had to come back towards the end, and that shows the character of all of these girls.

"It was an exciting game. I thought it was a really good quality game of footy. Both sides played really well...it was probably good for the spectators but not so good for the coaches!"

Parramatta coach Dean Widders was obviously disheartened after the loss.

"It's tough, it's disappointing and we just didn't execute well at all there in the end. We started really poorly in the first half, and it took it's toll on us," acknowledged Widders.

"We probably got the result we deserved, and our biggest challenge now is to turn it around and get ready for next week and put it all on the line."

With one round left in the regular NRLW season, the Eels have a final roll of the dice to make the finals when they travel to Brisbane to play their must win match on Sunday against the reigning premiers the Broncos. Brisbane will be out for redemption after their shock loss to the Gold Coast Titans on Saturday, their first loss since round three in 2019.

The Roosters will play the St George Illawarra Dragons on Saturday at Netstrata Jubilee Stadium in Kogarah. The Dragons will be riding high after a 40-4 thrashing of the Newcastle Knights on Sunday and will be hoping to keep that momentum going in front of their home crowd.

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Topics: Australia