AFTER a week of criticism and soul-searching, the Newcastle Knights bounced back in emphatic fashion on Sunday with a 28-14 triumph against Parramatta at McDonald Jones Stadium.
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The win broke a five-game losing streak and lifted Newcastle from last rung on the competition ladder to 11th, and provided both their players and fans - 19,604 of whom attended Sunday's game - with a much-needed confidence boost.
The Knights exploded out of the blocks to lead 20-0 before the Eels fought back to reduce the deficit to 20-14 midway through the second half.
But a fine solo try from man-of-the-match Mitchell Pearce steadied the Knights and they held on for their second victory of the season, and fourth in a row against Eels.
Afterwards Knights coach Nathan Brown said he thought his team had been building towards such a performance, only to suffer a 38-14 loss to Gold Coast last week that prompted some brutal honesty sessions and video reviews.
"I honestly thought that was going to come last week ... sometimes you have a few close losses and it takes a bit of a capitulation to understand what works," Brown said.
"From the first five minutes tonight, you could certainly see that if Parramatta were going to win, they were going to have to earn it."
Eels coach Brad Arthur said the Knights simply "out-enthused" his team, who were coming off a landslide 51-6 win against Wests Tigers last week.
"They had plenty of purpose, plenty of intent," Arthur said. "They ran hard, they tackled hard, they got off their line hard. They probably did everything harder than us. Real simple."
Knights fullback Kalyn Ponga opened the scoring with a sixth-minute penalty goal, then two minutes later supported a Danny Levi dummy-half break to race 60 metres and score. Three minutes later, back-rower Lachlan Fitzgibbon won the race to ground a grubber kick from Pearce in-goal.
Bench forward James Gavet crashed over from close range in the 27th minute to give the Knights 20 points in a match for the first time this season.
The Eels hit back with a try by winger Maika Sivo, then closed the gap to 12 points with a Mitchell Moses penalty goal after the half-time siren.
There was concern for Knights forward Sione Mata'utia in the 48th minute when he suffered a heavy knock and was replaced for a head-injury assessment, but he returned to play out the game.
Fifth-placed Parramatta surged back to within six points in the 52nd minute when back-rower Manu Ma'u strolled through a yawning gap and Moses converted.
A 58th-minute penalty allowed Ponga to increase the lead to 22-14, then Pearce gave his side a firm grip on two much-needed competition points when he darted through to score in the 68th minute.
