Penrith Panthers snapped a six-match losing streak with a 16-10 victory over Parramatta Eels, their first defeat at Bankwest.
The Eels started brightly and took the lead when Maika Sivo took in Will Smith’s grubber kick on three minutes. But the Panthers reacted well to a slow start and after Mitchell Moses’ penalty for the home side, pulled the score back to 8-6 through Tim Grant’s try.
After one penalty each for both teams before half-time, Penrith equalised with another through Nathan Cleary just after the break. Then it was Cleary that got on the end of Jarome Luai’s grubber to give the away side the lead.
The Eels huffed and puffed but didn’t have the quality to get back in the game; the Panthers held on.
Eels: Gutherson, Sivo, Hoffman, Ferguson, Jennings, Smith, Moses, Paulo, Mahoney, Mannah, Lane, Niukore, Ma’u; Interchanges: Terepo, Alvaro, Takairangi, Gower
Tries: Sivo; Goals: Moses 3
On report: Ferguson (13) – trip
Panthers: Edwards, Mansour, Whare, Blake, To’o, Luai, Cleary, Tamou, Katoa, Grant, Kikau, Winterstein, Fisher-Harris; Interchanges: Campbell-Gillard, Fuimaono, Leota, Kenny
Tries: Grant, Cleary; Goals: Cleary 4
On report: Luai (34) – high tackle
Full match reports of all this weekend’s NRL games will feature in Monday’s League Express.
