An understrength Panthers Jersey Flegg side has gone down 26-0 to the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs at Belmore Sports Ground on a cool Saturday evening.
The Panthers fought hard but were simply outplayed by the home team on a cool Belmore evening.
They had plenty of chances to open the scoring, but lacked the polish to finish off their opportunities.
A break by Cameron Lawrence midway through the half put the Bulldogs in attacking field position and they finally opened the scoring through a solo effort from Sione Moala.
They went on the attack again immediately after when the Panthers kicked off out on the full, however strong defence denied them.
A great cover tackle by Luke Hanson put the Panthers on the attack again, however they were prevented from scoring despite Peter Taateo’s best efforts.
The Bulldogs extended their lead to 8-0 on the half hour mark when a grubber by Moala bounced up kindly for Jonathan Sua.
The Panthers kick off again went on the full, however it proved far costlier for them when Jack Underhill reached out to score for the Bulldogs from close range in the following set. Sua converted on the siren to push the score to 14-0.
The second half started in similar fashion to the first, with Penrith again unable to get on the board despite plenty of possession.
The Panthers defence also held tight through the opening 20 minutes of the half, finally cracking when Sua crossed in the corner. He converted from the sideline to extend the margin to 20.
The scoreline started to balloon shortly after when Cody Lawson put down a bomb, allowing Danny Gabrael to pick it up and score under the posts.
They continued to fight to the end, but were unable to crack the Bulldogs defence.
