Warriors open their account

Bill Tupou scored a try in each half as the Warriors knocked over the Parramatta Eels to bank their first competition points of the season with a 36-20 win across the Tasman tonight. The Warriors started slowly as the Eels scored the opening two tries inside the first eight minutes before the visitors finally woke up. Former Eel Feleti Mateo scored in the 12th minute for the Kiwis to put them on the board, which injected some life in to the Warriors who lost their opening game against Manly last weekend. Tupou's first try came about when he was on the end of an overlap and he crashed over in the right-hand corner and he showed he has plenty of gas when he sprinted more than 70 metres to grab the last try of the game and ice the victory for the Warriors. The Eels came back in to the contest late in the game, led by halfback Chris Sandow who also bagged a double, but the Warriors counter-punched with the score in their favour at 24-20. Mateo's ability to offload the ball was again to the fore when his deft pass helped set up a try for Kevin Locke in the 72nd minute, which ensured the Warriors would finish with the points and Tupou's second -only minutes later - just confirmed the result. The Eels, who went in to the game without veteran second-rower Nathan Hindmarsh after he was struck down with a virus, also lost Jarryd Hayne in the first half when the star fullback went down with in injury in the opening spell. For the Warriors, Elijah Taylor was busy on defence while prop Sam Lousi was impressive after he was given the opportunity to start the game. The Warriors only missed 27 tackles during the game and they had periods in the second half where they had to defend repeat sets and they showed plenty of discipline. Manu Vatuvei was placed on report in the second half for a high shot on Eels centre Willie Tonga, which could be a cause for concern. Warriors coach Brian McClennan again pulled a late switch with his centres and yanked Krisnan Inu back to the bench and started Ben Henry who was workman-like in his performance although he rarely stood out. Boom rookie Konrad Hurrell looked dangerous with ball in hand throughout the game and he crossed for his first NRL try in the opening 40 minutes of the game. Hurrell, who played from the bench last week, was subbed after about an hour to make way for Inu, who came on to play against his former club. Warriors five-eighth James Maloney also kicked a perfect six from six with the boot. The Eels, who have struggled in the past two seasons, have lost their opening two games of the year and need to find some consistency to turn things around.