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Eels hand Titans spoon

09/03/2011 11:34:11 AM

Parramatta have crashed Preston Campbell's farewell party, handing the wooden-spoon to the Gold Coast Titans with a 32-12 mauling at Skilled Park on Saturday night.

A crowd of 18,265 were on hand to say goodbye to Campbell and a host of other departing Titans, but what was meant to be a night of celebration on the tourist strip quickly became one of unmitigated disaster.

Eels enigma Jarryd Hayne was back to his brilliant best, scoring one sensational try and helping set up five others as they broke a seven-game losing streak in style.

In doing so, they leapfrogged into 15th place - consigning the Titans to the region's first wooden-spoon since the Gold Coast Seagulls in 1993, and in the most embarrassing of fashions.

It was a hollow night for the hosts, who were desperate to send off Campbell and Co with a win - but instead they ended an atrocious season with one of their worst performances of the year.

They looked completely unprepared for Parramatta's first-half blitzkrieg, which began with a try on debut six minutes in for winger Ken Sio, who came into the Eels side for Casey McGuire (shoulder).

Luke Burt converted, then followed it up with an inch-perfect 40-20 as the visitors began to assert early control on the match.

It was far from the ideal start for Campbell, in his 267th and last first-grade match - and it was about to get much, much worse.

In the 12th minute with the Titans on the attack, Campbell laid on a grubber that looked the goods, but it rolled straight into the arms of Hayne.

Hayne looked up, weaved his way past Greg Bird from the in-goal and then sprinted 100m to score at the other end, showing David Mead, who was on his tail, a clean pair of heels on the way.

The Hayne masterclass continued in the 18th minute as he expertly trickled a kick into the padding on the left goalpost, which rebounded back into play.

Nathan Hindmarsh collected the ball from Burt's regather and then spotted Ryan Morgan on the left, dishing it off for the Eels' third try.

Morgan had his double just over 10 minutes later on the overlap and was unstoppable, crashing through tackles from Mead and Bodene Thompson at pace to complete Parramatta's first-half rout, with scores at 22-0 at the break.

Barely five minutes into the second half and Hayne was at it again, setting up two separate but nearly identical tries - three minutes apart - with perfect cross-field kicks for Ben Smith.

Just when it looked like the Titans had managed to touch down through Mead in the right corner, with about 15 minutes to go, the video ref turned it down with replays showing Burt had dragged him out of play.

They finally managed to make a dent into the scoreboard through Luke O'Dwyer 10 minutes from time, and then Mead immediately after the siren - both times down the middle of the park, allowing easy conversions for Campbell and St Helens-bound Anthony Laffranchi.

Those two, along with the rest of Gold Coast's departure lounge, will be doing their best to erase the match from their memories.

Parramatta Eels 32
Tries: Sio, Hayne, Morgan 2, Smith 2
Goals: Burt 4

Gold Coast Titans 12
Tries: O'Dwyer, Mead
Goals: Campbell, Laffranchi

 
Photograph Copyright : Getty Images

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