The race to avoid the NRL wooden spoon is well and truly alive after Parramatta ground out a dour 14-8 win over Canterbury at ANZ Stadium on Thursday night.
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The Bulldogs burst out of the blocks in the opening 15 minutes but fell in a heap in the second-half as the Eels ran over the top of them to break a three-game losing streak.
Parramatta remain in last spot, however it moved them to 10 points, equal with the Dogs and North Queensland, who take on St George Illawarra on Saturday.
In front of a disappointing crowd of 8437, there were few highlights in a game marked by errors and penalties.
The Dogs' fifth tackle options in particular were woeful in the second half as halves Lachlan Lewis and Jeremy Marshall-King failed to impose themselves on the game.
The Eels took the lead for the first time in the 53rd minute when a Lewis grubber ricocheted off Nathan Brown and Mitchell Moses ran 90 metres untouched.
A Moses penalty goal in the 69th minute gave the Eels an eight-point buffer before two points from Rhyse Martin with seven minutes to play set up a tense finish.
The Eels held on to secure just their second win in their last 10 starts and fourth victory of the season.
Earlier, the Dogs opened up a 6-0 lead when Kerrod Holland shot through a gaping hole close to the line in just the seventh minute.
But the Eels were back on level pegging by halftime after Brett Morris was sin-binned for holding back Bevan French.
Kaysa Pritchard blew a golden chance the set immediately after Morris went for 10 when he lofted a forward pass.
However the Eels No.9 atoned just minutes later when he finished off a Tepai Moeroa break.
The Dogs also have concerns over forward Clay Priest, who left the field in the second half with what appeared to be a right arm injury.
Eels coach Brad Arthur said he was "over the moon" after his side managed to hang in and didn't lose composure in the closing stages.
"It is important, yeah," Arthur said when asked about the wooden spoon.
"No one wants to be given the wooden spoon. No one wants to come last. I don't need to remind the players because I'm sure they're aware."
Dogs coach Dean Pay said his side was wasteful with the ball and called it a learning experience for Lewis and Marshall-King.
"We had a fair bit more ball than them and we just didn't do enough with it," Pay said.
"We had a couple of young blokes in the halves who were going sideways, we've got to dig into the line and create some opportunities for ourselves."
Australian Associated Press
