NRL Sunday Wrap

The race for the minor premiership has tightened up markedly after today’s matches with St George-Illawarra continuing their red hot run of form to defeat Parramatta 25-22, while Brisbane’s slide back to the pack showed no sign of abating as they lost in heart breaking circumstances to Penrith 22-20.

Both games had nail biting finishes with the Eels dropping the ball with the try line wide open in the final minute to hand the Dragons the win, while at Penrith Stadium the Panthers staged a grandstand finish scoring two tries in the final five minutes to steal the victory from an injury riddled Broncos outfit.

After all of the hype leading Sunday’s blockbuster clash between the Dragons and the Eels both played a match that well and truly lived up to the billing of a grand final preview.

St George-Illawarra made sure that the 17,500 fans that packed into Oki Jubilee Stadium had plenty to cheer about in the opening half an hour racing to an 18-0 lead courtesy of some inspired attacking play that saw Lance Thompson, Ashton Sims and Clint Greenshields all cross for relatively simple tries.

Parramatta gave themselves a glimmer of hope heading into the break with replacement forward Fui Fui Moi Moi crashing over to reduce the gap to 12 points, but a Trent Barrett field goal on the stroke of half time gave the Dragons a handy 19-6 lead.

The Eels showed plenty of courage early in the second half with tries to Nathan Hindmarsh and Nathan Cayless reducing the deficit to just three points with 20 minutes to play.

A try in the 63rd minute to St George prop Jason Ryles looked to have sealed the win, but Parramatta debutant Brett Delaney ensured the game would have a thrilling conclusion as he dived over out wide after a stunning piece of play from hooker Mark Riddell had set up the try.

The last five minutes saw the Eels throw caution to the wind as they went on a full out attacking blitz and could have stolen the two competition points in the final 30 seconds if not for a dropped ball when a try looked imminent.

The win now sees the Dragons draw level on the competition table with both Parramatta and the Wests Tigers on 32 points and with an easy run home a top two spot is definitely on the cards.

Penrith staged a stunning revival this afternoon in front of over 15,000 fans and in the process did the teams chasing the Broncos for the minor premiership a massive favour in handing them a two point defeat.

Brisbane looked to have the match well in their keeping leading 20-14 with six minutes to play, but two tries to centre Paul Franze saw the Panthers snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

The win now ensures that Penrith cannot take the wooden spoon and actually still leaves them with a mathematical chance of making the playoffs.

Brisbane on the other hand will now be looking over their shoulders with three teams sitting just one win behind them on the NRL ladder.

In the afternoons other match Cronulla racked up a record score line in their clash against Manly hammering the hapless Sea Eagles 68-6 at Shark Park to book their spot in the playoffs.

Halfback Brett Kimmorley was back to his best picking up a hat trick in the Sharks 12 try romp that saw them record the biggest win in the club’s history.

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