The Jersey Flegg Panthers came back from a 12-0 deficit to record a convincing 38-12 win at BlueBet against the Dragons on Saturday afternoon.
It was first points to the Dragons after they marched upfield courtesy of a penalty, an attacking set ending with Cyrus Stanley-Traill forcing his way over off a crash ball. Conversion successful, 0-6.
The Dragons extended the lead in the next set, when a shift to their right edge went through Afu and then to Williams, who accelerated around the Panthers defence, before passing inside to put Benjamin Rumble away. Conversion successful, 0-12.
A big collision in the air between Murphy and Williams gave the Panthers a penalty and a free ticket out of their own end. Williams ended up coming off, and the Panthers had the momentum.
The Panthers scored in the 18th minute, a deflected Blake Moore kick bounced into the hands of Hokafonu Lemoto who looked up to clear air. He got between defenders and forced his way to the line earning the first points. Conversion successful, 6-12.
A pinpoint kick from Joseph Nohra applied the pressure after points, landing the ball five metres short of the in goal, skidding in and making Rumble have to work to get out. The next set the Dragons struggled to get out of their end, and it gave the Panthers a prime chance to level scoring.
The Panthers attacking set ended in one of the tries of the season so far. It started with a Francis Manuleleua offload, which bounced around before finding its way to Hokafonu Lemoto, who threw a miracle ball over the top to Nohra, the next two passes beat the Dragons defence before getting to Poutua Hotere-Papalii who had nothing but grass in front of him, diving in the corner to score. Conversion unsuccessful, 10-12.
Nick Murphy had a piece of individual brilliance with two minutes to go in the first half, weaving through defenders after getting the ball out the back of shape, stepping past three defenders and then scoring next to the posts. Conversion successful, 16-12.
Francis Manuleuleua continued a strong performance, scoring his first to put the Panthers ten points ahead. Joseph Nohra passed the ball to Manuleuleua as the lead runner, and he powered his way to the line from ten metres out. Conversion successful, 22-12.
The injury blows kept coming for the Dragons, with David Afu coming off with a leg injury and both their right centre and winger were now off the field.
Nick Murphy scored his second in the 50th minute, in extremely similar fashion to the first. He got the ball in a 2-on-1 before slashing back inside, leaving Dragons defenders clutching at air, as he accelerated his way to the line. Conversion successful, 28-12.
In the 56th minute, Blake Moore split the Dragons open to blow the lead out to 22, the Panthers now dominating territory and piling the points on. Conversion unsuccessful, 32-12.
An intercept try for Jirah Liddiard put the icing on the cake for the Panthers, extending the lead to 26 with three minutes to go. Conversion successful, 38-12.
