Penrith Panthers finished off the fifth round of the NRL with an edgy 12-6 win over Parramatta Eels.
The Panthers started brightly with an early James Maloney penalty but were reduced to 12 men for ten minutes when Trent Merrin committed a professional foul on Kaysa Pritchard.
With the Eels’ Tim Mannah in the bin for exactly the same offence, James Maloney chipped to the corner to find the unmarked Josh Mansour.
After a Maloney penalty on the stroke of half-time gave Penrith a 10-0 lead, the Eels came storming back in the opening minutes of the first half when George Jennings crossed.
Despite plenty of Parramatta pressure, they couldn’t get through and the Panthers held on for the win which resigns the Eels to a 0-5 record to start the season
Eels: Smith, G Jennings, M Jennings, Auva’a, Hoffman, Norman, Moses, Alvaro, Pritchard, Mannah, Ma’u, Williams, Brown; Interchanges: Moeroa, Scott, Edwards, Terepo
Tries: G Jennings; Goals: Moses
Sin-bin: Mannah – professional foul
Panthers: Edwards, Mansour, Blake, Whare, Crichton, Peachey, Maloney, Merrin, Wallace, Campbell-Gillard, Kikau, Yeo, Fisher-Harris; Interchanges: Egan, Harawira-Naera, Leota, Taou
Tries: Mansour; Goals: Maloney 4
Sin-bin: Merrin – professional foul
Full match reports of all this weekend’s NRL games will feature in Monday’s League Express.