Penrith have scored five unanswered second half tries to snatch a remarkable comeback victory over the New Zealand Warriors at Pepper Stadium.
Down 28-6 at half-time, Penrith were booed by their fans as they headed into the sheds. They were staring down the barrel of their sixth straight loss, with their season on the line. But their fans’ jeers turned to cheers as the Panthers went on a rampage in the second half.
In a game of two wildly fluctuating halves, the Warriors scored three tries in the first 17 minutes of the first half to race out to a 16-0 lead. Their first try was scored by Kieran Foran in the 6th minute, after a mad scramble by the Warriors to keep the ball alive on the last tackle.
Six minutes later, Penrith centre Waqa Blake was sin binned for a professional foul after chasing down Warriors’ winger David Fusitua who had intercepted and run 80 metres. The Warriors capitalised on the extra man in the next set, with young winger Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad crossing out wide.
Ryan Hoffman then scored the Warriors’ third try after running onto a ball from Sam Lisone.
Penrith finally got on the board in the 25th minute after a determined run by second rower Isaah Yeo saw him score beside the posts.
Kieran Foran then produced two clutch plays for the Warriors fourth try. First it was a 40/20 to put the Warriors in great field position. Then in the next set, a deft grubber allowed Nicoll-Klokstad to chase and score his second try.
On the stroke of half-time, David Fusitua intercepted his second pass of the match but this time Blake couldn’t catch him. He ran 90 metres to score under the posts.
The Panthers needed to score early in the second half to have any chance and they did that in the 46th minute when Isaah Yeo ran strongly onto a good ball from Bryce Cartwright to score his second try.
Penrith then ran in three more tries in the next thirteen minutes to snatch the lead for the first time with 21 minutes to go. First it was Dallin Watene-Zelezniak scoring out wide off a Bryce Cartwright cross-field kick. Cleary’s sideline conversion made it 28-18.
The Panthers then scored off the restart set with Isaah Yeo putting Waqa Blake away on a 60 metre run to the line, beating Warriors fullback and captain Roger Tuivasa-Scheck along the way. Five minutes later, a determined effort close to the line by Panthers’ captain Matt Moylan to score put Penrith in front.
At 30-28, the game then became an arm wrestle for the next fifteen minutes before Tyrone Peachey iced the match for the Panthers with a try in the corner. It came after Watene-Zelezniak made a break off a Warriors’ bomb, though the last pass to Peachey looked marginal. Either way, it didn’t affect the result.
The win is just the Panthers third for the year, but could kick start their season. For the Warriors, this was the sort of game they are involved in all too often.
Final score
Penrith Panthers 36
New Zealand Warriors 28
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