The Penrith Panthers remain at the top of the NYC competition ladder, defeating the Parramatta Eels 36-12 at Ringrose Park this afternoon.
Coach Cameron Ciraldo made no changes to the side he named on Tuesday, with Kaide Ellis and Daniel Brown dropping off the extended bench.
The Panthers afternoon didn’t start according to plan with Stanton Albert suffering a game-ending knee injury in the 2nd minute.
However the Panthers were able to bounce back through Dylan Edwards scoring the opening try of the match in the 4th minute.
Edwards was able to leap over his opposition fullback and catch the mid-field bomb to score underneath the posts.
Nathan Cleary converted the try to take Penrith to a 6-0 lead.
Penrith crossed the try-line again in the 24th minute when Soni Luke charged down a mid-field Parramatta kick. Luke was able to re-gather the ball and offload to Jarome Luai to run 40m and score.
Cleary’s conversion was successful to take Penrith to a 12-0 lead.
With the Eels defence tiring, a barnstorming Thomson Tuigamala was able to stroll over the line virtually untouched to cross next to the posts.
Cleary enjoyed his afternoon of relatively easy conversions and took the score to 18-0.
HALF TIME: Panthers 18-0
Half time proved to have slowed the Panthers down with Parramatta scoring in the opening stages of the second half.
Joshua Aloiai scored the Eels first try of the game in 44th minute on the back of a Parramatta line break. Zach Docker-Clay converted the try to take the score to 18-6.
The Panthers hit back immediately through a well-executed set play down the short side. Christian Crichton was the recipient of a great ball from Edwards to score in his return game from injury.
Cleary continued his sharp-shooting to extend Penrith’s lead to 24-6.
In the following set after the try, Soni Luke was rewarded with a four pointer after his grubber took a deflection and landed perfectly in his hands, allowing him to dive over the line in the 55th minute.
Parramatta managed to put up a minor fightback through centre Tui Oloapu. Docker-Clay successfully converted the try to take scores to 30-12.
The fightback was short-lived as Penrith’s forwards continued to show their attacking class, this time through Tyrone May who put Moses Leota through a hole to score in the 60th minute.
Cleary continued his impressive form with the boot, kicking 6/6 and extending the lead to 36-12.
FULL TIME: Panthers 36-12
