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Penrith Panthers vs Canberra Raiders highlights: Wallace field goal wins it for Panthers

30th April, 2016
Kick-off: 3pm (AEST)
Venue: Carrington Park, Bathurst
TV: Live, Fox Sports 501
Betting: Panthers $1.57, Raiders $2.50
Overall Record: Played 68, Panthers 33, Raiders 34, Drawn 1
Last meeting: Round 1, 2016 - Raiders 30 defeat Panthers 18 at Canberra Stadium
Last five: Raiders 3, Panthers 2
Referees: Gavin Reynolds and Alan Shortall

Penrith Panthers
1. Matt Moylan 2. Josh Mansour 3. Dean Whare 4. Peta Hiku 5. Dallin Watene Zelezniak 6.Jamie Soward 7. Peter Wallace 8. Leilani Latu 9. James Segeyaro 10. Regan Campbell-Gillard 11. Bryce Cartwright 12. Isaah Yeo 13. Trent Merrin
Interchange: 14. Tyrone Peachey 15. Jeremy Latimore 16. Suaia Matagi 17. James Fisher-Harris 20. Sam McKendry

Canberra Raiders
1. Jack Wighton 2. Edrick Lee 3. Jarrod Croker 4. Joseph Leilua 5. Jordan Rapana 6. Sam Williams 7. Aidan Sezer 8. Shannon Boyd 9. Josh Hodgson 10. Paul Vaughan 11. Josh Papalii 12. Elliot Whitehead 13. Shaun Fensom
Interchange: 14. Kurt Baptiste 15. Luke Bateman 16. Clay Priest 17. Joseph Tapine 18.Frank Paul Nuuausala
Trent Merrin leads a seriously impressive Penrith pack. (AAP Image/Mick Tsikas)
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30th April, 2016
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Match result:

The Penrith Panthers have warded off a fast-finishing Canberra Raiders at Carrington Park in Bathurst, winning by a single point on the back of a Peter Wallace field goal.

REPORT: PENRITH WIN A CLOSE ONE

The Panthers were ahead at half time and managed to increase that early in the second half in what was a fairly entertaining first 45 or so minutes. From there though, the game completely broke down and neither team could find any rhythm or flow to their offence as the errors built up.

Despite Penrith having a 12-point lead heading into the final 10 minutes, the Raiders would score a pair of tries with some very expansive plays to tie the game before Peter Wallace kicked the winning field goal after misses from both sides.

Bryce Cartwright was the best on ground almost unquestionably with offloads building up and plenty of run metres as he terrorised the Canberra defence all afternoon.

In fact, it would be fair to say all the Panthers forwards were strong – particularly during the first half. That allowed Peter Wallace, Jamie Soward and Matt Moylan to go on the attack and Canberra just didn’t have the answers.

In fact, for most of the game Canberra didn’t have any answers in attack. They had a one-dimensional attack and didn’t look creative at all trying to go one-up all afternoon through the forwards.

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The try scoring opened in the seventh minute through Bryce Cartwright. The Raiders were actually going on the attack when Austin went to put in a grubber, had it taken by the Panthers and Cartwright had a massive headstart before scoring under the goalposts.

Jordan Rapana would answer back just seven minutes later off a fantastic Joey Leilua offload on the right-hand side.

The Panthers would ensure they went into the break with the lead though as they shifted the ball quickly to the right for Cartwright, who offloaded it back in through four players to Tyrone Peachey and he crossed over for the easy try. Jamie Soward missed the conversion, but kicked a penalty goal not too long after, giving the Panthers a lead of a converted try at the break.

The second half saw error after error, particularly from Penrith coming out of their own end. They had basic errors, while the Raiders had a number of execution errors on the attack.

Regardless, Peta Hiku would manage to score in the 55th minute and push Penrith well ahead.

The Raiders, after countless errors and struggling to find any rhythm or creativity finally managed to score through Paul Vaughan with a barge over try, before Jordan Rapana would score his second just five minutes later.

Both teams would have missed shots at field goal before Peter Wallace knocked one over from about 30 metres out with under 60 seconds to go.

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The Raiders would manage to put in a short kickoff, regaining the ball and eventually Aidan Sezer would take a crack at a field goal, have it charged down and James Segyaro would go almost the length of the field before Penrith wound the clock down.

So, in the end at Bathurst Penrith escape with the two points but it was far from comfortable.

Final score
Penrith Panthers 19
Canberra Raiders 18

Match preview:

It could be a high-scoring game when the Penrith Panthers hit the road to Bathurst for a home game against the Canberra Raiders, with plenty on the line. Join The Roar for live scores and coverage from 3pm (AEST).

It was a tale of mixed fortunes last weekend, as the Panthers went down to the Cronulla Sharks in a nail-biter, while the Canberra Raiders got up by a massive 54 points, running up the highest score so far this season against the hapless Wests Tigers.

The Panthers match, against Cronulla saw them down, then up but ultimately with a two point loss. They struggled to break the Sharks defence in the first half despite having what can only be considered an absolute mountain of possession, right on the line.

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A lack of points during that period will absolutely worry them. While they scored a few tries after half time, there was plenty of luck involved with one being off a bomb that was allowed to bounce – absolutely perfectly for Matthew Moylan it must be added, and another two of excellent passing displays from long range.

It has left them on 11th place, with only three wins from their first eight games and the pressure starting to mount at a rate of knots.

The Raiders on the other hand are coming off an absolute smashing of the Wests Tigers. They ran up 60 points and never looked fazed as every member of the team contributed in some way shape or form.

It was an important win for the Canberra side, particularly given they had dropped out of the top eight and that they had dropped their previous two matches against the Cronulla Sharks and Parramatta Eels – giving up 76 points in the process.

In team news, Sam McKendry, Dean Whare and more importantly James Segeyaro are all back into the side. Given injuries to Waqa Blake and Te Maire Martin, the later pair move into the starting side. Segeyaro plays hooker, with Peter Wallace in the halves. Meanwhile, McKendry will play off the bench.

The Canberra Raiders meanwhile, are unchanged with only the addition of Frank-Paul Nuuausala.

The big battle here looks to be the Panthers controlling their kicking game. Without Martin to do the ball running he had been doing, it would appear Peter Wallace must take over some of the kicking duties during general play in an attempt to allow Soward to not only run the ball, but get a little bit creative.

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Prediction
The Raiders might be coming off a huge win, but I would say they won’t get the job done again. Penrith to take it with Jamie Soward doing plenty of damage.

Panthers by 12.

Be sure to join The Roar for live scores and coverage of this Round 9 NRL match from 3pm (AEST) and don’t forget that you can join in by adding your comments below.

Follow Scott on Twitter @sk_pryde

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