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Penrith have turned the NRL title race on its head with a miraculous last-gasp qualifying win over the Sydney Roosters at Allianz Stadium.
A low-trajectory Jamie Soward field goal with less than 10 seconds left on the clock earned the Panthers an extraordinary 19-18 victory after the Roosters looked to have snatched the match just minutes earlier.
A solo try six minutes from fulltime to star halfback Mitchell Pearce, and a controversial conversion to five-eighth James Maloney, had given the Roosters an 18-12 lead.
But an incredible reply from the Panthers with three minutes remaining, followed by Soward’s late, late heroics sent Penrith’s travelling fans into a frenzy.
From a Soward grubber kick, young winger Dallin Watene-Zelezniak somehow knocked the ball back from outside the field of play and centre Dean Whare pounced to score.
Soward then nailed the conversion from out wide before booting the ultimate drop goal winner to seal an amazing victory.
While the Panthers will enjoy next weekend off and sit one win away from a first grand final berth since winning the title in 2003, the Roosters now face a sudden-death showdown on Friday night against either North Queensland or Brisbane.
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