The Penrith Panthers have held off a fast-finishing effort from the South Sydney Rabbitohs to record their third win in succession, 26-22 this afternoon at a rain-soaked Redfern Oval.
The Panthers, having dominated the first half to lead 16-6, before extending that lead to 20-6 early were forced to withstand a second half comeback from the Rabbitohs that saw the hosts at one point trail 20-18.
A Matt Eisenhuth try with ten minutes to go gave the Panthers some breathing space at 26-18 but when Ashton Ward scored with a minute remaining to reduce the gap to four, it took David Fale’s kick smother on the last play of the game to finally secure the two competition points for the visitors.
But it would be Penrith who off an early Souths error inside their own half, scored first through Blaize Talagi, with the five-eighth crashing over from close range to score out wide, missing his own conversion attempt to have the visitors up 4-0 after five minutes of play.
However, a Penrith error in the following set inside their own half invited Souths to hit back straight away when half Lewis Dodd put through a deft kick at the try-line for his fullback, Fletcher Myers to come through and regather to score and with five-eighth Ashton Ward’s successful conversion, the home side led 6-4 after 10 minutes.
Penrith would soon regain the lead when a cross-field kick inside the Souths 20 was unable to fielded by the Rabbitohs and back-rower Harry Hassett was on the spot to swoop on the loose ball to score out wide and with Talagi’s conversion, the Panthers led 10-6 after just 14 minutes of play.
A Lewis Dodd kick charge down when in good attacking position was regathered by Penrith allowing the visitors to go 80 metres in two plays to score. A quick play the ball enabling winger Jesse McLean to make a long line break straight up the middle of Redfern Oval being tackled 20m out with fullback Jaxson Edgar unmarked in support. But the missed opportunity didn’t matter as a quick shift left where Penrith had all the numbers, allowed winger Asu Kapaoa to score next to the posts to extend the visitors lead out to 16-6 after 24 minutes.
Back-to-back penalties late in the half, put Souths on attack inside Penrith’s 20 but again another error when in good attacking position let Penrith off the hook and head into half-time leading 16-6.
Panthers were back on attack 20m out with hooker Luke Sommerton able to get a sublime pass away to Mavrik Geyer, as he was falling to the ground, who shifted left to Hassett, who found David Fale in support and the centre acrobatically put the ball over in the north-west corner to evade the cover defence and extend the lead out to 20-6 after 50 minutes.
An error from the kick-off compounded by penalty conceded inside their own 20, allowed the Rabbitohs to quickly hit back with a try to centre Carson Kaho, who was on hand to ground Dane O’Donnell’s deft grubber kick from close range and with Ward converting from out wide, the home side suddenly trailed 20-12 after 55 minutes.
The Rabbitohs made it back-to-back tries when an offload from Jaxson Edgar to support backfired badly for Penrith, with centre Talanoa Penitani stripping the ball and finding an unmarked winger, Dane Towns to score next to the posts to reduce the gap to 20-18.
An error from Souths put Penrith on attack, and they once again capitalised when a Billy Scott kick from dummy half allowed Matt Eisenhuth to pounce on the kick to score behind the posts and with Talagi’s simple conversion, the visitors once again enjoyed a handy 26-18 lead with 10 minutes remaining.
But a penalty enabled Souths to once again bridge the gap to within four and set up a thrilling last minute of play, when Ward produced a fine individual effort to score next to the posts from close range in the 79th minute.
But despite Souths best endeavours to score on the last play of the game, Fale’s smother of a kick ahead enabled the Panthers to hang on for an important 26-22 win.
Key Points:
- Penrith came into the match in fifth but their third win in succession over the 12th placed Rabbitohs sees the Panthers move up into third on for and against.
- Some concern for Penrith in the days ahead will be whether Samuel Lane is charged by the match review committee having been placed on report in the first half.
- Penrith had some key ins and outs for this game with Blaize Talagi and Matt Eisenhuth in for Brad Schneider (NRL) Preston Riki (suspended) respectively.
Key Moment:
Asu Kepaoa looked certain to score his second try of the afternoon early in the second half only to be bundled into touch in the north-west corner by some desperate Souths cover defence.
What’s Next?
The Panthers return home to Parker St Reserve next Saturday where they will host the improving North Sydney Bears, who themselves are coming off a gutsy win over the Dragons.
Match report courtesy of NSWRL.
