The St George Illawarra Dragons were defeated 18-8 by the Parramatta Eels at Pirtek Stadium, Parramatta on Saturday.
The Young Dragons scored only the two tries in the loss courtesy of Tom Carr and Matt Dufty.
Head Coach Ben Hornby had made several changes to the line-up announced midweek with winger Dee Jay Harris coming in for Rowland Kotobalavu in a straight swap.
Furthermore, Luciano Leilua was promoted from the interchange bench to replace Jacob Host whilst hooker Netane Vi dropped-off.
The Red-and-Whites came into the encounter on the back of their third win of the season following a comprehensive 34-12 win over the Sydney Roosters last round and were keen to impose themselves on the game early on.
The visitors achieved their desired goal when winger Tom Carr leapt past the opposing defensive line on the right flank to score in the ninth minute of play.
However, the hosts rallied and levelled proceedings when Eels five-eighth Michael Doolan grubbered kick left found winger Abbas Miski in the 20th minute.
Eels centre Nathan Davis converted to gift his side a narrow 6-4 lead.
The home side carried this newfound momentum with them for the remainder of the half and were rewarded for their efforts through halfback Zach Docker-Clay on the half hour mark.
Davis converted again to make it 12-4.
The Young Dragons managed to narrow the deficit back to four-points when Carr through a cut-out pass to fullback Matt Dufty to latch on to with 14 minutes remaining.
However, Eels centre Tui Oloapu dashed any hopes of a fairy-tale ending for the visitors when he banked his own four-pointer a minute from time.
Davis converted one final time to make it 18-8.
St George Illawarra Dragons 8. Tries: Carr, Dufty. Goals: James (0/2).
Parramatta Eels 18. Tries: Miski, Docker-Clay, Oloapu. Goals: Davis (3/3).
