The Penrith Panthers have suffered a surprise loss in round 6 of the Knock-On Effect NSW Cup, falling 26-24 to the Blacktown Workers Sea Eagles at BlueBet Stadium.
It was an end-to-end opening 10 minutes, with neither side giving an inch. It was the Panthers who cracked first, with an Aaron Woods short ball putting Jake Toby threw, before he sent Brad Abbey on a 50m run to open the scoring for Blacktown.
A penalty against the Panthers in possession gave the Sea Eagles another opportunity. They capitalised again through Clayton Faulalo to advance to an 8-0 lead.
The Panthers continued to put themselves under pressure with repeated errors, ultimately costing them a third try as Josh Stuckey spun over from close range in the 26th minute.
A short side play five minutes before half time gave the Panthers a rare attacking opportunity, however Jesse McLean lost possession attempting to ground the ball.
They went on the attack again four minutes later, with Luke Sommerton dummying and scoring under the posts to cut the deficit to 12-6 at half time.
The Panthers got off to a quick start in the second half, scoring after six minutes when Tom Jenkins tapped a kick by to Liam Henry. Kurt Falls used the breeze perfectly to draw level at 12-all.
They made it two tries in as many minutes in the following set, with Chris Smith setting up Jenkins after making a break down the right hand side.
Blacktown hit back almost immediately, with Raymond Tuaimalo Vaega scoring in the left corner.
The Sea Eagles took back the lead in the 57th minute, shifting to the right to send Zac Fulton over, making the score 20-18.
Blacktown captain Toafofoa Sipley burrowed over under the posts with ten minutes remaining, extending the Sea Eagles lead to 8.
Jake Toby looked to have scored another try for Blacktown with five minutes remaining, however desperate goal line defence held him out.
The Panthers went the distance in the following set, with Summerton burrowing over from dummy half to keep the game alive, however they ran out of time, falling two points short.
