The Panthers fell agonisingly short of an incredible comeback in their 38-32 defeat to Sydney Roosters at CommBank Stadium on Friday.
Trailing 38-24 inside the final 10 minutes, the Panthers made a dramatic push late on with a try and two penalty goals but fell just short of a win at the death.
The Panthers started strongly as Paul Alamoti scored inside two minutes, cutting infield and bursting through the line for the opener.
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Alamoti scores Panthers first at CommBank Stadium
The early lead was short-lived however, as the Roosters hit the front with back-to-back tries from Mark Nawaqanitawase and Connor Watson.
Further setbacks were in store for the Panthers, as Lindsay Smith and Liam Martin were each sent for head injury assessments.
Brian To’o scored a brilliant try to bring the Panthers back to life, when the winger rolled a grubber through for himself and pounced on the ball to score.
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Brilliance from Bizza
Nathan Cleary nailed the sideline conversion to make it 12-all, but the Roosters retook the lead minutes later through Daniel Tupou.
The Panthers returned serve on the stroke of halftime, as Liam Henry leaped onto Cleary’s cross-field chip to level the scores.
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Who knew a Horse could fly?
Connor Watson scored early in the second half to put the Roosters back ahead, before being cancelled out by Dylan Edwards’ try.
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Edwards pounces
Tries in quick succession by Daniel Tupou and Sandon Smith put the Roosters in a commanding position, with the Panthers woes compounded by an injury to Dylan Edwards.
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Dylan Edwards leaves the field
Tupou completed his hat-trick in the 70th minute to extend the Roosters lead to 38-24, which ultimately proved the difference.
That did not stop the Panthers from a late rally, however, which set up a grandstand finish at CommBank Stadium.
Two penalty goals from Nathan Cleary bookended Casey McLean’s try in the corner, bringing the Panthers within six points of equalising.
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Casey bags a four-pointer
One final push came up awfully short, with Brian To’o denied a last-gap try by a matter of inches.
The Panthers will aim to bounce back when they travel to Melbourne to face the Storm in a Round 3 grand final rematch.
