An understrength Penrith Panthers NSW Cup team has overcome the North Sydney Bears 26-16 in scorching temperatures at BlueBet Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The Panthers found themselves under pressure early, however strong goal-line defence saw them force the Bears into a number of errors.
A penalty and set restart then gave the Panthers a chance to attack and they were quick to capitalise, with Leytion Finau crashing over next to the posts to take a 4-0 lead.
The Panthers looked to have doubled the lead minutes later when Anthony Layoun crossed, only to be denied due to a double movement.
Norths finally took advantage of good field position in the 27th minute when Ben Stevanovic dummied and sliced through the defence to lock the scores at 4-all.
It didn’t take long for the Panthers to take back the lead though, when Filo Tuimaualuga shimmied through the Bears defence and set up Chance Te Atua to score near the posts. Masi Fidow converted to make the score 10-4.
The Bears didn’t take long to hit back, with Kruz Niutili-Schmidt dummying past the defence to race away and score under the posts.
A shift to the left in the dying seconds of the half saw Moung Dut cross out wide, giving the Panthers a 14-10 lead at half-time.
The Panthers came out strong to start the second half, mounting several attacking plays on the Bears line. Back-to-back tries down the left in the opening 12 minutes saw them extend the lead to 22-10.
A shift from the Bears saw Havi Tupouniua cross out wide, cutting the Panthers lead to 22-16 with 20 minutes remaining.
A high tackle gave the Panthers perfect field position with five minutes remaining, before several offloads eventually saw them add a final try, taking the score to 26-16.
Despite a late Bears raid, the Panthers held on for a gutsy win at home.
