The Canterbury Cup Panthers fell to a 28-18 defeat at the hands of Newtown Jets at Panthers Stadium on Friday.
After losing his spot in first-grade Dean Whare impressed with the few opportunities he had, with his fancy footwork featuring on a couple of occasions.
Billy Burns also had a great turn-out with his 12th try of the season.
The Panthers made a quick start as Burns ran a lovely line to burst through and score in the 3rd minute.
Jed Cartwright’s conversion was successful to push the lead out to six.
A last-tackle penalty gifted the Jets a full set on the Penrith line and they quickly capitalised as Billy Magoulias pounced on a deft grubber.
Jayson Bukuya later steamed straight through soft middle defence to score under the posts and extend Newtown’s lead to six.
The power game up front eventually led to more points as William Kennedy chased his own kick and scooped up the loose ball after it hit the posts.
All three tries were converted, seeing Newtown lead by 12 at the break.
HALF-TIME: Panthers 6 Jets 18
The Panthers eventually hit back after the break when fullback Charlie Staines ran a great line to go straight through next to the posts.
Penrith then camped themselves on the Newtown line after forcing consecutive repeat sets and the pressure told as Burns then kicked to the corner for a diving Matheson Johns.
The Jets then turned it on with a brilliant team try which saw Greg Eastwood regather a chip kick, pass to Scott Sorensen and end up with Brayden Trindall scoring in support.
Frank Winterstein crashed over late to reduce the deficit to 10 points.
FULL-TIME: Panthers 18 Jets 28
