Eels score dramatic win over Roosters

(aap) Parramatta kept their slim NRL finals hopes alive with a dramatic 28-24 win over the
Sydney Roosters at the Sydney Football Stadium.
In a tightly-fought contest, scores were locked at 24-all with nine minutes to go
before centre Krisnan Inu scored a try in the corner to reclaim the lead.
Roosters second rower Willie Mason looked certain to scored an equaliser with three
minutes on the clock but the Eels showed great determination to keep Mason out and
their season alive.
Parramatta are now 12th but only two points outside the top eight, with four rounds
left.
Assistant coach David Fairleigh did most of the talking as coach Michael Hagan
recovered from a bout of vertigo that hospitalised him on Friday.
Inu finished with 16 points as the visitors took full advantage of a 7-2 penalty count.
Nathan Hindmarsh, Joel Reddy and Joe Galuvao also scored tries.
Roosters winger Shaun Kenny-Dowall scored a double for the Roosters but was forced
from the field midway through the second half with what could be season-ending
medial ligament damage.
Amos Roberts and Sam Perrett also scored for the Roosters, who missed a chance to
join Manly, Melbourne and Cronulla atop the NRL ladder and now sit fourth.
The Eels took the lead in the seventh minute after Hindmarsh scored from a Brett
Finch bomb.
Inu put them out to an 8-0 lead with a 17th-minute penalty but the Roosters hit back
three minutes later when Roberts latched onto a pin-point Braith Anasta grubber.
They then grabbed the lead in the 26th minute when Kenny-Dowall crossed out wide for
his 14th try of the season.
Another Inu penalty got the Eels back within two before Reddy stole back the lead
for Parramatta when he plucked another Finch bomb five minutes before the break.
Kenny-Dowall went in for his second shortly after the break and Craig Fitzgibbon
converted from out wide to square it up at 18-all.
The game continued to sway as interchange forward Galuvao gave the Eels the lead
again in the 53rd minute from a play that was kick-started by a brilliant run and
flick pass from Feleti Mateo.
But, on the back of being awarded their first penalty in the 57th minute, the
Roosters again hit back with Perrett stepping his way over the line and Fitzgibbon
making it 24-all.
Both sides failed to capitalise on their chances until Finch spun a lovely ball to
set up Inu in the 71st minute and the Eels repelled two late Roosters raids to keep
their season alive.