Broncos win thriller over Eels
May 30, 2008
The Brisbane Broncos welcomed back Darren Lockyer from injury and left it to him to snatch the game in the dying seconds at Suncorp Stadium.
If Luke Burt had his kicking boots on things may have been different. As it turned out the match was one of the most exciting so far this season.
The Eels got off to a dream start when Feleti Mateo went over after 5 minutes to give his team a 4-0 lead. The conversion by Burt made it 6-0. The Eels fans did not have to wait long before their team crossed again. This time it was Joel Reddy who scored in the ninth minute to make it 10-0.
Brisbane got into the game when their no. 2 went over for what was to be the first of four tries. The try to Denan Kemp made the score 10-4 to Parra.
Just when it seemed the Eels were going to maintain their edge a try was scored by Justin Hodges. A penalty goal in the 35th minute saw the teams go into halftime with the visitors ahead 12-10.
Early in the second half it was Parramatta again who started the scoring when Luke Burt scored and converted his try to make it 18-10.
From here it was all the Broncos until the 73rd minute. Two more tries by Denan Kemp and a penalty goal made the score 26-18 to the home team.
It was now that Parramatta made a late charge. A high kick to the left corner saw Krisnan Inu rise above his Broncos opponent to take the ball and plant it down out wide to score.
Parramatta now were just four points behind with the score 26-22 and 7 minutes to play. Just to make it more exciting it was Inu again who scored a fantastic try following a chip and chase by the Parra no. 6 Feleti Mateo. The Inu try was scored just inside the left corner and gave Burt a chance to be a hero. His shot missed and the match looked set to go into extra time.
Here is where Lockyer stepped up. With just second left on the clock he took the ball from a scrambled pass out of dummyhalf, he summed up the situation and chipped a kick for the flying Kemp who with several Parra players attempting to tackle him slid over the line for his fourth try of the match and more importantly the match winner.
The final score was 30-26.
What a great game this was to watch. It remains to be seen if the Queensland selectors rush Lockyer back into the team for state of origin game 2.
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