The Jersey Flegg Newcastle Knights dug deep in the second half to defeat the Parramatta Eels 30-10 in their trial match at Maitlands No.1 Sportsground on Saturday afternoon.
It was a slow start for the home side as they failed to get on the board in the first half, but refreshed at halftime, they clawed their way back to take the lead and seal the win.
It was a quick try for the Eels, as winger Ethan Parry crossed over in the middle. The conversion was successful for the visitors to take the early lead, 4-0.
A few mistakes crept in early for the Knights as most of the first half resembled end to end football.
Parramatta centre Noel Aukafolau broke the drought in the last five minutes and crashed over for the second of the match. The Eels strengthened their lead to 10-0 over the Knights into the halftime break.
In the second half, the Knights had trouble breaking through a tight Eels defence, as they struggled to get anywhere near the try line.
But a fresh set 20 metres out, gave the Knights a big advantage as Jack Cameron took the ball to crash over for Newcastle’s first. Kurtis Dark nailed the conversion in front, for the Knights to trail 10-6.
Minutes later the Knights recorded their second via Tex Hoy near the posts, with Hoy also to add the extras and put the Knights into the lead, 12-10, for the first time of the match.
The tries then started to flow for the home side as Joe Bromage dived over in the middle to extend the lead for the red and blues. Hoy made it two from two from the boot to put the Knights in front, 18-10.
With 10 minutes remaining, Knights forward Jirah Momoisea added another to their tally before the scoring barrage continued via Beau Fermor, who dived over to see Newcastle stretch out the score line to 30-10 and take the win over the Eels.
SUMMARY
Knights 30 (T: Cameron, Hoy, Bromage, Momoisea, Fermor, G: Dark 1/1, Hoy 4/4)
Eels 10 (T: Parry, Aukafolau, G: Brown 1/2)
