The Canberra Raiders fell 15-12 to the Parramatta Eels at Commbank Stadium.
Both sides started hot after recent defeats, trading heavy early sets and metres.
Ten minutes in the Eels opened the scoring when Brian Kelly's dummy-half play released Jordan Samrani to finish on the right.
Raiders halfback Ethan Sanders was sin-binned in the 23rd minute for a tackle without the ball.
Parramatta capitalised on the one-man advantage, with Kelma Tuilagi scoring from a short-ball move set up by Isaiah Iongi.
The try was reviewed in the bunker and ultimately stood, putting the Eels eight points clear.
In the 28th minute Canberra made a change as rookie Vena Patuki-Case replaced Joe Tapine, who was playing his 250th NRL game.
The Raiders believed they had scored late in the first half via a Matt Timoko setup to Jed Stuart, but the Bunker disallowed it for lost possession.