Brilliant SG Ball Panthers crush Parramatta Eels
The SG Ball Panthers put on a clinic to beat the Parramatta Eels 42-14 at New Era Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The win sees the Panthers leapfrog the Eels to secure second place on the ladder, an important confidence boost ahead of the finals.
Captain Luke Hanson was massive in both attack and defence, often making multiple tackles in a row from marker while also getting an assist and a try of his own.
Hanson opened the scoring in the 3rd minute when he sold a fabulous dummy to slice through the defensive line. Conversion by Riley Pollard successful, 0-6.
The Eels hit back in the 5th minute, when they span the ball out to the left-hand side, allowing winger Devonte Vaivela to dive over in the corner. Kick by Ethan Sanders ricocheted off the upright, 4-6.
The Panthers would extend their lead in the 12th minute when a deft grubber close to the line from hooker Moustafa Dirani found Hudson Brown who finished the try off nicely. Conversion successful, 4-12.
The home team put themselves back in the game in the 19th minute when an attacking bomb found grass, bouncing awkwardly and landing in the hands of centre Richard Penisini who scored the try. Conversion successful 10-12.
The Panthers would reclaim their 8-point lead in the 23rd minute, as Luke Hanson took the ball deep into the line on the last play before dribbling a beautiful kick in behind the defence for Hotere-Papalii to pounce on. Conversion successful, 10-18.
The Panthers found themselves on the backfoot for the rest of the first half. However, fantastic communication and some crunching defence meant they were able to deny the Eels a number of times.
The Eels would be the first to score in the second half, a nice shift to the right put winger Tuvaka Palu over in the 41st minute.
Centre Jirah Liddiard help put his team further in front, making a remarkable leap for a bomb, before miraculously offloading the ball for Jenson Tuaoi to go over untouched. Conversion successful, 14-24
A drop ball by Parramatta in the 52nd minute was picked up by David Afu, who showed tremendous pace to race away 30 metres and put the Panthers up by four more points. Conversion successful, 14-30.
The Panthers would opt to take a penalty from right in front of the goalposts in the 55th minute, giving themselves three converted tries worth of breathing room.
Adding insult to injury, the away team crossed once again in the 60th minute, this time fullback Timothy Sielaff-Burns dove over in the righthand corner to give the Eels a mountain to climb in order to win the game. Conversion successful, 14-38.
Liddiard showed off his aerial skills once again in the 63rd minute, leaping to take a well-weighted crosskick and planting the ball down for his second try involvement of the day. Pollards only unsuccessful kick for the afternoon, 14-42.
-Zach Lee
Panthers record thrilling Harold Matthews victory
A 90m intercept try in the dying minutes by Harry Wald has helped the Penrith Panthers get out of jail in the Harold Matthews Cup, beating the Parramatta Eels 22-16 at New Era Stadium.
The Panthers had led 16-4 until an error-riddled second half allowed the Eels to draw level, only for Wald, who finished with a personal tally of 18 points from three tries and three goals, to snatch the win.
It didn’t take long for the Panthers to strike at the start of the game, with Tuaomaliemavaitoelau Patea backing up some skilful offloads to score in the left-hand corner in the third minute. Wald added the extras to take a 6-0 lead.
An error coming out of trouble presented the Eels with an opportunity to hit back and they did just that through Dominic Farrugia to cut the Panthers lead to 6-4.
The Panthers continued to pressure the Eels defence, coming close to scoring on a couple of occasions in the middle of the half.
Continued pressure on the Parramatta line finally paid off for the Panthers, with a shift to the right sending Harry Wald in to score.
They backed it up five minutes later in similar fashion, with another good shift to Wald resulting in a try in the corner. The winger converted his own try, giving the Panthers a 16-4 lead they took to half time.
The Eels hit back early in the second half, crossing near the posts despite the best efforts of the Panthers defence, cutting the margin back to 16-10.
Repeated errors set in for the Panthers in the second half, however their strong defence kept their lead intact.
A professional foul by Jordan Uta saw the Eels reduced to 12 with 11 minutes remaining, however the Panthers lost Joseph Partch to the sin bin two minutes later.
The Panthers brave defence was finally cracked with six minutes remaining as Zaidas Muagututia crossed from dummy-half, with Farrugia converting from alongside the posts to draw level at 16-all.
Once again defending their own line, the Panthers looked almost certain to crack again, before Wald intercepted and raced 90m to take back the lead with two minutes to go. He again converted his own try, pushing the lead to 22-16.
Parramatta had only final attacking play on the siren, however the Panthers defence held firm, taking out the thrilling victory.
-Lachlan Jeffery
Tarsha Gale Panthers' win streak ends
The Penrith Panthers four-game unbeaten run in the Tarsha Gale Cup has been ended by the Parramatta Eels, falling 24-6 at New Era Stadium.
It was an error-riddled performance by the Panthers who now must beat the North Sydney Bears in the final round to remain in finals contention.
The Panthers got off to the perfect start, scoring with their first use of the ball when Yasmine Baker dummied and sliced through the defence in the 3rd minute. Jaida Staben converted to give them a 6-0 advantage.
The good attacking start was matched by their defence, with Marley Cardwell coming up with several big hits in the middle, while their goal line defence came up with some incredible trysavers.
Repeated errors eventually proved too much for the Panthers defence to handle, with Hayley Bell scoring for the Eels in the 23rd minute.
The Panthers left-side defence was breached again in the final seconds of the half, with Lindsay Tui crossing in the corner. Alysha Bell converted both tries from out wide, giving the Eels a 12-6 lead at the break.
An inability to find touch following a penalty was compounded by further errors by the Panthers and the Eels again made them pay, racing around the Panthers right-edge defence, scoring through Caitlin Peadon to take the score to 18-6.
Another unforced error by the Panthers put them under more pressure and they were punished on their right again, this time by Alysha Bell, who converted her own try from out wide.
Baker came agonisingly close to keeping the Panthers in the contest, held up over the line. She followed that up with a desperate try-saver in the following set, keeping the score at 24-6, where it remained at full time.
-Lachlan Jeffery
