Penrith Panthers cruised to a 48-6 victory over the Blacktown Workers Sea Eagles at HE Laybutt Field on Sunday.
Peter Wallace’s side scored seven unanswered tries, with Daeon Amituanai bagged two four-pointers in the opening 20 minutes, while Jack Cole kick all eight
conversions and Lindsay Smith showed no mercy with his charges upfield.
After a relatively slow start with poor field position, Penrith received a penalty which allowed them to progress well into their attacking half.
Spreading the ball from right to left, Daeon Amituanai crossed in the corner for the first try of the game in the 12th minute. Jack Cole added the extras from touch to give the visitors a six-point lead.
A huge run from Lindsay Smith carried the Panthers into great field position before
the young forward looked left and found Amituanai in support for his second try of
the game, only seven minutes after the first. Cole kicked the conversion from in-front to extend Penrith’s lead to 12.
NSW Cup Highlights: Sea Eagles v Panthers
Thomas Jenkins faked a pass to his left to draw in the defence in the 20th minute, opening a gap in the line for the centre to score his 16th try of the season. Cole’s conversion cleared the uprights to put Penrith three unanswered tries in-front of the home team.
In the 36th minute the Panthers made light work of the exhausted Sea Eagles
defence, with fullback Charlie Staines ploughing through the line to score. Cole
continued his perfect day on the boot to give Penrith a 24-point lead at the break.
HALF-TIME: PANTHERS 24 - SEA EAGLES 0
Panthers winger Sunia Turuva was sent to the sin-bin in the opening minutes of the second half after Blacktown fullback Jake Toby was knocked out in a mid-air
collision.
Despite being down a man, Penrith continued to chip away in their attacking half with Cole sending second-rower Preston Riki through a gap to score. Cole converted the try to put the Panthers 30-points in-front.
In the 55th minute Cole created something from nothing, charging at the line with four Sea Eagles on his back to add another four-points to the board for Penrith. The halfback converted his own try to further punish the exhausted Blacktown outfit.
Off the restart Penrith found themselves in their attacking half once again, this time with Soni Luke taking the kick from dummy-half. His kick ricocheted off the posts before the hooker and Smith battled to ground the ball, but it was Luke who claimed the four points. Cole slotted the two-pointer, taking the score to 42-0.
Once again it was Cole the creator, with the 19-year-old breaking the Sea Eagles
defensive line before offloading to Chris Smith who raced away untouched to score. Cole converted the try from medium range to make the difference 48.
Penrith leaked a late try through on their right edge with Blacktown centre Pio Seci grounding the ball in the corner in the 73 rd minute. Ben Stevanovic converted the try from touch, but the effort wasn’t enough to steal the Panthers’ thunder.
FULL-TIME: PANTHERS 48 - SEA EAGLES 6
