Eels 12 Warriors 10
KEY POINTS:
The Warriors had their chances to get over Parramatta at Mt Smart Stadium last night but could not complete enough sets to mount sustained pressure when they let a 4-0 lead slip away to a defeat late in the game.
What they proved was that they are a worthy top-eight side but the loss is likely to send them to a sudden-death game away to the winner of tonight's clash in Townsville between the North Queensland Cowboys and the Bulldogs.
It was 44 minutes before a point was scored but at no stage was it boring. There was even a penalty try, the first in finals since Melbourne won the grand final with one in 1999.
Warriors prop Sam Rapira was knocked senseless in the second tackle of the game by his Kiwis test team-mate Nathan Cayless's shoulder charge, a measure of the intensity of the clash. But Rapira stepped up to play a big game, as did the other younger Warriors.
Wade McKinnon brought the sell-out 28,745 crowd into the match early on, leaping above the touchline to keep an Eels penalty kick in play.
There were uncharacteristic errors from both sides early on as the pace told, Steve Price knocking on, Simon Mannering passing over the sideline, Nathan Hindmarsh dropping the ball first tackle, Jarryd Hayne kicking a last-tackle play dead over the sideline. But neither could take advantage and turn penalties or repeat sets of six into points.
It was 22 minutes before the Eels' much-vaunted backline engineered a break-away. The crowd erupted into a "defence" chant and the Warriors' line held. They went straight down the other end, Grant Rovelli sending a chip to the right flank which was tapped back to Todd Byrne, but the fill-in centre was unable to ground the ball.
At 30 minutes, Aussie test centre Timana Tahu lost the ball in the act of grounding it, something you won't often see.
Epalahame Lauaki came off the bench and knocked on in front of the Warriors' posts. Then he brought off a try-saving turnover tackle.
The Eels had no accuracy in their kicking game in the first 40 minutes, Tim Smith sending repeat kicks over the sideline within 2m of the Warriors' goal. The Warriors were unable to maintain possession for long enough to mount consistent pressure at the other end and it was nil-all at the break.
But perhaps it was the home side who took more confidence from the deadlock and it was the Eels who started to doubt their attack.
Another nothing kick from Smith gifted the Warriors the ball. Then Parramatta conceded a penalty and, on the back of the territory, they went to the red zone and Michael Witt dropped a pin-point chip on the right wing for Byrne and he nailed his second chance. Unfortunately the dead-eye goal-kicker was off with the conversion.
Then followed a glut of possession and territory for the Warriors following further Eels errors. Logan Swann got to the line but not over it, the video referee ruled.
This was when the home team needed to secure points, extend their lead and take the game away from Parramatta. They couldn't do it.
At 64 minutes Feleti Mateo latched on to a Smith chip and with Krisnan Inu's conversion the visitors took the lead. Hayne then beat a desperate Price to P.J. Marsh's grubber and they extended that to 12-4.
With time slipping away ref Tony Archer awarded the home side a penalty try when Witt was tackled by Chad Robinson before he had received the ball. Witt's conversion pulled the Warriors within two but the Eels held firm in a furious final two minutes.
