Penrith have capitalised on a glut of possession from a lopsided penalty count to beat Manly 16-8 at Pepper Stadium.
The Panthers lead 12-4 at half-time after scoring two first half tries to one.
They opened the scoring in the third minute when prop James Tamou used his strength to push through some soft Manly line defence to score near the posts.
The Sea Eagles hit back in the 11th minute with a try by centre Dylan Waker that was laid on by captain Daly Cherry-Evans.
Cherry-Evans earned his team two repeat sets with deft grubber kicks before throwing a cutout ball for Walker to score.
Cherry-Evans then became engaged in a running debate with referee Henry Perenara as the first half penalties started to mount against his team.
Penrith finally scored a debatable try in the 35th minute after winger Dallin Watene-Zelezniak grounded a cross-field kick.
Centre Waqa Blake appeared to knock the ball forward in the air first before his winger took over and grounded it, but the bunker ruled it to be a fair try.
Only one try was scored in the second half. It came in the 45th minute when Manly backrower Shaun Lane drew in two defenders before offloading to fullback Tom Trbojevic who scored.
Penrith halfback Nathan Cleary later added two penalties to give the Panthers some more breathing space and they hung on for a much needed, but fairly ugly win.
The two points sees them stay in touch with the top 8.
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Gold Coast fought their way back into the contest in the first half, and it was on the back of moments like this.
The Gold Coast captain was adamant he was interfered with as Manly cut the deficit to two right on halftime.
