Eels' win golden

PARRAMATTA fullback Luke Burt emerged the hero last night with a 38-metre overtime penalty goal that gave the Eels their fifth consecutive win over Wests Tigers.

On a night that featured two overtime games, the Parramatta Stadium contest was tied up at 20-20 two minutes from the end of 80 minutes when Parramatta were penalised just to the right of the posts for taking out chasers on Wests Tigers captain Brett Hodgson's grubber kick.
It was still 20-20 halfway through golden point time, before an offside penalty gave Burt the chance to step up. He was embraced by his team-mates as the ball cleared the posts by only a couple of metres.

TWO intercept tries and some dogged defence earlier laid the foundations for Parramatta's their first win under new coach Michael Hagan – and the first victory in a premiership match since August.

In a battle of the winless western Sydney powerhouses at Parramatta led 14-12 at halftime before two sin bin dismissals turned the round three opener on its head.

First, Wests Tigers replacement Dene Halatau was handed a spell by referee Steve Clark for a professional foul when replays suggested he had been held down by an Eels attacker.
Despite being a man down, Tim Sheens' men looked to have created the next try when hooker Robbie Farah roared into the clear with 26 minutes to go and lined up Benji Marshall for the touchdown.

But Marshall was taken out by Parramatta replacement PJ Marsh before he got the ball, earning Marsh a 10-minute spell. Tongan international Feleti Mateo extended the Eels' lead with a 58th minute try, before Marshall hit back with one of his own six minutes later.