Mitchell Moses has nailed a 25m field goal to give Parramatta a thrilling 13-12 golden-point win over Canterbury at ANZ Stadium.

Moses’ game-winner on Thursday night saved the Eels’ blushes after a poor second half allowed the Bulldogs to force the extra period and almost cost them a chance to consolidate their spot in the NRL top eight.

Parramatta were forced to defend 26 plays inside their 20m line in the second half compared with just four down the other end of the field, inviting Canterbury back into the contest.

Down 12-2 at half-time, the Bulldogs cut the deficit when Brett Morris took advantage of a defensive brain explosion by Kenny Edwards in the 49th minute.

And although they had a mountain of possession thereafter, that was how the scoreline looked to stay until interchange utility Matt Frawley dummied past Tepai Moeroa to draw level.

However, in front of a crowd of 14,061, the Eels took advantage of a crucial penalty early in the first set of golden point when Michael Lichaa was penalised for stripping Moeroa.

The Eels then needed just three plays before Moses stepped up in the clutch to deliver his best moment in Parramatta colours since moving from the Wests Tigers mid-season.

It was easily Moses’ best performance for the Eels, playing a hand in both their tries and coming up with some big defensive plays.

Lock Nathan Brown was arguably his team’s best, producing a game-high 228m and 42 tackles in an 82-minute performance.

The signs were ominous early for Canterbury, who were on the backfoot in just the third minute when an errant first-tackle pass from Will Hopoate should have ended in a penalty try.

Instead, winger Marcelo Montoya was sin-binned for preventing a certain four-pointer from Mitchell Moses and Gutherson kicked an early penalty goal.

Being down to 12 men, the Bulldogs twice bombed opportunities to take the lead and instead settled for their own two points gifted by Edwards.

However, that was as threatening as the visitors got as the home side took a half-time lead through tries to wing pair Bevan French and Semi Radradra.

French was put into space by Moses and then chased down his chip over Brett Morris in the 23rd minute before Moses was again involved in a left-side shift for Radradra 10 minutes later.

Bulldogs captain Aiden Tolman’s matched Brown’s whole-game effort with 147m and a game-high 54 tackles in the defeat.