The Roosters NYC side is celebrating another thrilling win after coming back to down the Parramatta Eels 22-20 at Allianz Stadium.
The two point win was the third time this season the Roosters have won when trailing with under two minutes to play.
The Roosters started the match with an early chance via a relieving penalty. However, an error, compounded by a penalty of their own gave the visitors a glorious chance to open the scoring. Despite lacking an attacking spark in recent weeks, the Eels had no problems in crossing the stripe in just the 4th minute of their round four clash. After going close on the previous two plays, Parramatta finally cracked the line through their agile number six Sam Gorman. Mitchell Brasington coolly slotted the extra two to hand the visitors an early six point advantage.
The home side tried to work their way back into the contest through some pin point kicking from the halves. Tyler Cornish went close on two occasions, but couldn't quite pick up a 40/20. Sadly, it would be their kicking which let them down as the half progressed.
The Eels, meanwhile, continued to assert their dominance through the middle of the ruck. Kaysa Pritchard was a constant threat out of dummy half, running for almost 100 metres in the opening forty. And it was the Parramatta captain who almost caught the Roosters napping when he broke through from inside his own half. Thankfully Dallas Wells was there to save the day with a last ditch tackle at the back.
Despite being on the back foot for most of the half, the Roosters came very close to levelling the scores through Jack Noble. The try scoring machine hit a glorious ball from Samisoni Langi, but couldn't control the ball over the line.
Back to back kicks out on the full hurt the home side badly, with the Eels piling on two tries in the space of six minutes. The first error saw Parramatta's forwards combine to score adjacent to the posts. Prop forward Junior Paulo came up with a Bulldogs' style tip on ball to put Frazer Masinamua over after 24 minutes. Another poor kick gave the Eels an attacking scrum which finished off with James Tuitahi fending his way to the line. Brasington had no luck from out wide, handing the Eels a 16 point lead at the break.
Paul Green would have been disappointed with a below par completion rate. His half time spray must have been a gem, because a new look Roosters emerged to start the second half. After saving a try with a desperate one on one steal, Jack Goodsell popped up at the other end to open the hosts' account. A cheeky grubber from captain Rhyse Martin caught the Eels by surprise, who couldn't recover in time to deny Goodsell out wide.
The hosts were in again just four minutes later after the Eels spilled a towering Langi bomb. The great field position offered the Roosters a chance to attack, and the tricolours capitalised two tackles later. Brendan Elliot relished some rare space on the fringe, stepping off his left to beat two Parramatta defenders on his way to the line. The centre didn't do himself any favours, pushing the ensuing kick to the right.
Just when it looked as if the Eels were cracking, the visitors hit back with an important try of their own to imposing winger Takai Moeakiola. The short side raid caught the Roosters napping on the last tackle, with Sam Gorman able to exploit the overlap.
The never say die attitude was at the fore, with the Roosters narrowing the margin to eight points with 15 minutes to play. It was a textbook left to right shift from the hosts, with halfback Tyler Cornish putting Taane Milne into some space. The right centre had plenty of work to do, and miraculously managed to plant the ball millimetres inside the field of play.
With just five minutes to go, the hosts looked dead and buried. Not for the first time this season, the NYC side pulled off a miracle. Rhyse Martin took it upon himself to carry three Parramatta defenders over the line from close range, reducing the margin to just four points. Despite scoring four tries apiece, the Roosters found themselves down by four due to a string of near misses from out wide.
You could sense a renewed vigour the moment the Eels kicked off. Three powerful hit ups gave the Roosters a huge lift, and the backs fed off the platform set by their big men up front. A quick shift to the right gave Brendan Elliot a sniff. That sniff soon became a whole lot stronger as the left centre fended off three defenders, before offloading to Nene Macdonald pushing up in support. The try had the crowd on its feet for the third time this season, waiting in anticipation for the potentially game winning kick. Just like round one, Elliot kept cool under pressure, knocking over the challenging conversion.
The 22-20 win was every bit as exciting as the round one and two wins over South Sydney and the Warriors. Paul Green will be over the moon with his side's never say die attitude. The 80 minute commitment sees the Roosters comfortably inside the top eight ahead of their trip to Canberra next week.
For all updates on the Under 20s squad keep an eye on Roosters.com.au and /or on Twitter via #tiktikBOOM
The two point win was the third time this season the Roosters have won when trailing with under two minutes to play.
The Roosters started the match with an early chance via a relieving penalty. However, an error, compounded by a penalty of their own gave the visitors a glorious chance to open the scoring. Despite lacking an attacking spark in recent weeks, the Eels had no problems in crossing the stripe in just the 4th minute of their round four clash. After going close on the previous two plays, Parramatta finally cracked the line through their agile number six Sam Gorman. Mitchell Brasington coolly slotted the extra two to hand the visitors an early six point advantage.
The home side tried to work their way back into the contest through some pin point kicking from the halves. Tyler Cornish went close on two occasions, but couldn't quite pick up a 40/20. Sadly, it would be their kicking which let them down as the half progressed.
The Eels, meanwhile, continued to assert their dominance through the middle of the ruck. Kaysa Pritchard was a constant threat out of dummy half, running for almost 100 metres in the opening forty. And it was the Parramatta captain who almost caught the Roosters napping when he broke through from inside his own half. Thankfully Dallas Wells was there to save the day with a last ditch tackle at the back.
Despite being on the back foot for most of the half, the Roosters came very close to levelling the scores through Jack Noble. The try scoring machine hit a glorious ball from Samisoni Langi, but couldn't control the ball over the line.
Back to back kicks out on the full hurt the home side badly, with the Eels piling on two tries in the space of six minutes. The first error saw Parramatta's forwards combine to score adjacent to the posts. Prop forward Junior Paulo came up with a Bulldogs' style tip on ball to put Frazer Masinamua over after 24 minutes. Another poor kick gave the Eels an attacking scrum which finished off with James Tuitahi fending his way to the line. Brasington had no luck from out wide, handing the Eels a 16 point lead at the break.
Paul Green would have been disappointed with a below par completion rate. His half time spray must have been a gem, because a new look Roosters emerged to start the second half. After saving a try with a desperate one on one steal, Jack Goodsell popped up at the other end to open the hosts' account. A cheeky grubber from captain Rhyse Martin caught the Eels by surprise, who couldn't recover in time to deny Goodsell out wide.
The hosts were in again just four minutes later after the Eels spilled a towering Langi bomb. The great field position offered the Roosters a chance to attack, and the tricolours capitalised two tackles later. Brendan Elliot relished some rare space on the fringe, stepping off his left to beat two Parramatta defenders on his way to the line. The centre didn't do himself any favours, pushing the ensuing kick to the right.
Just when it looked as if the Eels were cracking, the visitors hit back with an important try of their own to imposing winger Takai Moeakiola. The short side raid caught the Roosters napping on the last tackle, with Sam Gorman able to exploit the overlap.
The never say die attitude was at the fore, with the Roosters narrowing the margin to eight points with 15 minutes to play. It was a textbook left to right shift from the hosts, with halfback Tyler Cornish putting Taane Milne into some space. The right centre had plenty of work to do, and miraculously managed to plant the ball millimetres inside the field of play.
With just five minutes to go, the hosts looked dead and buried. Not for the first time this season, the NYC side pulled off a miracle. Rhyse Martin took it upon himself to carry three Parramatta defenders over the line from close range, reducing the margin to just four points. Despite scoring four tries apiece, the Roosters found themselves down by four due to a string of near misses from out wide.
You could sense a renewed vigour the moment the Eels kicked off. Three powerful hit ups gave the Roosters a huge lift, and the backs fed off the platform set by their big men up front. A quick shift to the right gave Brendan Elliot a sniff. That sniff soon became a whole lot stronger as the left centre fended off three defenders, before offloading to Nene Macdonald pushing up in support. The try had the crowd on its feet for the third time this season, waiting in anticipation for the potentially game winning kick. Just like round one, Elliot kept cool under pressure, knocking over the challenging conversion.
The 22-20 win was every bit as exciting as the round one and two wins over South Sydney and the Warriors. Paul Green will be over the moon with his side's never say die attitude. The 80 minute commitment sees the Roosters comfortably inside the top eight ahead of their trip to Canberra next week.
For all updates on the Under 20s squad keep an eye on Roosters.com.au and /or on Twitter via #tiktikBOOM
