The Penrith Panthers remain alive in the Knock-On Effect NSW Cup, coming from 18-8 behind at half time to claim a thrilling 26-18 win over the North Sydney Bears.
The Panthers spent much of the second half camped down the Bears end at North Sydney Oval, however it took two brilliant plays from halfback Trent Toelau in the final ten minutes to snatch victory over the minor premiers.
The result now means that the Panthers must beat Parramatta in the final round and hope that either the Warriors or Raiders lose, or Blacktown wins by four points fewer than the Panthers.
Neither side gave an inch for the first 15 minutes, however it was the Bears who opened the scoring when Isaiah Iongi couldn’t handle a floating Sam Walker bomb, allowing Ben Stevanovic to touch down. Walker converted to give the Bears a 6-0 lead.
In a double-blow, Matt Stimson succumbed to a injury to his left shoulder, forcing a reshuffle that saw Jack Cole move to centre and Kurt Falls into the halves.
Strong Panthers defence gave them multiple attacking chances, finally capitalising in the 23rd minute when Trent Toelau and Jaeman Salmon combined with Jesse McLean to create a try in the right-hand corner.
The joy was short-lived though, as the Panthers let the ball bounce dead from the kick off. A Walker grubber in the following set resulted in an easy try to Reuben Porter, with Walker again converting to make the score 12-4.
The Panthers hit back in the 34th minute when McLean took a cross-field kick and stayed alive, finding Iongi who dummied and crashed over in the corner, reducing the deficit to four.
A penalty late in the half gave the Bears an easy passage downfield, where Daeon Amituanai put down a Walker kick, presenting a try for Alfred Smalley. Walker converted from the sideline, making the Bears lead 18-8 at half time.
Toelau nearly got the second half off to the perfect start, making a break and forcing a goal line drop out. They immediately turned over possession when Iongi knocked on the short restart.
It wasn’t much better for them when they created an overlap minutes later, only for Iongi’s pass to be intercepted by Allan Fitzgibbon.
Multiple forced errors and a drop out followed, and when Salmon’s grubber trickled over the sideline, it looked like the Panthers were beginning to get frustrated.
They finally managed to get it right in the 58th minute when they kept the ball alive with a string of offloads, finally resulting in a try to Falls. Cole converted from adjacent to the uprights to reduce the deficit back to four.
An out-on-the-full kick off put the Panthers straight back onto the attack, however another error down the Bears end saw them turn the ball over.
A piece of brilliance from Trent Toelau brought the scores level with ten minutes remaining, running the ball through a gap on the last before putting in a banana kick for McLean to score his second. Cole landed the conversion from the sideline, putting the Panthers ahead for the first time in the afternoon, 20-18.
Toelau once again turned creator, running the ball on the last again with 90 seconds left to set up Eddie Blacker up for the match winner. Cole converted on the siren, wrapping up the upset, 26-18.
