The Roar
The Roar

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Wallace hurt in another Panthers comeback

Uate is back, baby. (AAP Image/Darren Pateman)
21st May, 2017
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Penrith have overcome another horror first half and the loss of half their spine to score an unconvincing 30-20 win over Newcastle and claim back-to-back NRL wins for the first time in 2017.

A week after giving up a 28-6 half-time lead before beating the Warriors, a disappointing Panthers again looked dead and buried on Sunday when they went into the sheds with a 14-0 deficit.

However this time Penrith had to climb off the canvas with just 15 fit men, after five-eighth Bryce Cartwright (leg) joined Peter Wallace (groin) in the sheds minutes after the break.

The results of Wallace’s injury could have major ramifications for the NSW State of Origin team, which appeared set to include the Panthers hooker for the first time since 2008.

But the injuries failed to deter the visitors from stealing an unlikely win at McDonald Jones Stadium as they crossed for four straight tries in a gritty second-half comeback.

It was a far cry from the team that were devoid of patience in the first half, continuing a trend of poor starts that has resulted in a combined 88-8 scoreline over the past five weeks.

Skipper Matt Moylan started the comeback when he latched onto a Trent Merrin offload in the 49th minute to score, which was soon followed by Leilani Latu’s try from close range.

James Tamou then gave Penrith the lead when he picked up a loose pass to barge over the tryline, before Moylan completed his first career try double from Dane Gagai’s in-goal error to seal the win.

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Peter Mata’utia crossed for a consolation try, however it was too late for a Knights side that were riddled with ill-discipline and were denied some crucial calls in the second half.

In front of a crowd of 13,319, the Knights picked up from where they left off in last week’s upset win over Canberra when they dominated the ruck in a comprehensive first-half performance.

The home side raced to a 12-0 lead inside the opening ten minutes on the back of tries to Brock Lamb and Daniel Saifiti, both of which were scored off short passes from close range.

Lamb sliced through off a Jamie Feeney offload in the fourth minute, before Daniel Saitifi exposed the Panthers’ soft middle to score under the posts soon after.

Knights forward Luke Yates failed to finish the match due to concussion.

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