Parramatta coach Brad Arthur has refused to point the finger at George Jennings and Blake Ferguson for their back-field blunder during their 17-10 NRL loss at the hands of North Queensland.
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Jennings and Ferguson were responsible for the game-turning error which allowed the Cowboys to come from a second-half deficit to claim a much-needed win on Saturday.
Jennings, playing his first-grade football for the first time this year, fired an ill-advised pass on his own tryline with the scores locked at 10-10 and five minutes left on the clock.
Ferguson scrambled to take the ball, which was well out in front of him, but it spilled out of his hands and on the next play Tom Opacic dived over for the match-winner.
"If we had that time over we wouldn't make that pass," Arthur said.
"But it is what it is. We can't be blaming individuals.
"As a team there were moments in that game we didn't get right."
While it was a vast improvement on their 64-10 flogging at the hands of Melbourne last week, the Eels are now in danger of dropping out of the top eight for the first time this year.
The loss continues Parramatta's troubles on the road and they are now 2-4 away from home in 2019.
Despite the Cowboys' dominating field position and possession, the Eels had their attacking opportunities in the second half, but the likes of Mitchell Moses and skipper Clint Gutheron couldn't capitalise or build pressure.
"The effort was great, the attitude to our performance was really positive," Arthur said.
"But some big moments in the game let us down. It proved costly in the end. They had 40 per cent possession but they managed the game better.
"There were a couple of moments when we had the ball and were attacking the tryline and we needed to be prepared to build some pressure and get another set."
Australian Associated Press
