The Panthers get the win against the Newcastle Knights in front of a home crowd at BlueBet Stadium on Saturday evening.
Result
Penrith Panthers 20
Tries: (4) Tyrone Peachey 25th, 33rd; Dylan Edwards 8th; Jaeman Salmon 47th
Goals: (2) Jack Cogger 10th, 35th
Knights 12
Tries: (2) Kalyn Ponga 17th; Jackson Hastings 54th
Goals: (2) Jackson Hastings 19th, 55th
Report
The Panthers, in front of their home crowd, were the first to score points for the evening, with fullback Dylan Edwards being the man to do so.
The Knights got their first points of the evening after a frantic yet slick pass from Dominic Young to Kalyn Ponga, who was the one to score the points.
With the scores all tied up, both sides were looking strong, particularly in defence.
Tyrone Peachey scored Penrith’s second try of the evening.
The Knights attempted a short line drop-out, hoping to regain possession. The ball was kicked almost into touch, but Newcastle swatted the ball back in, only for the Panthers to get possession and score again through Peachey, extending their lead to 10 points just before the break.
Jack Hetherington was sent to the sin bin, leaving the Knights a man down to close out the first half, and open the second. With two minutes left, the Panthers were in the ultimate field possession while their opposition was without Hetherington.
Despite being a man down, the Knights defended their line with desperation, and to their credit, didn’t let Penrith score any additional points as they went into the break.
The second half was going to be a big one for both the Panthers and the Knights. The Panthers had the edge, but Newcastle were looking capable, despite being down by 10.
Jaeman Salmon scored an unconverted try for the Panthers just seven minutes into the second half, putting some extra pressure on the Knights.
The Knights slipped through the loose Penrith defence and scored Newcastle’s second try of the evening. Jackson Hastings converted his own try to narrow the margin to only eight points.
The intensity had ramped up as the game was starting to draw to a close. The Panthers were desperately trying to hold onto their lead, while the Knights were hoping for any opportunities to score more points, but were unable to.
PLAYER OF THE YEAR POINTS
3 – Tyrone Peachey (Panthers)
2 – Dylan Edwards (Panthers)
1 – Jackson Hastings (Knights)
