Panthers snatch victory from the Tigers grasp

Super Saturday Review

Penrith has followed in the footsteps of the Melbourne Storm and snatched an unlikely victory from the jaws of defeat, downing the Wests Tigers 24-20 at CUA Stadium tonight.

While the Storm pinched last night’s game from the Bulldogs on the siren, the Panthers did have some time to play before celebrating.

Five minutes to be precise, after Luke Lewis crossed for the home sides’ fourth try in the 74th minute.

Tigers’ winger Shannon McDonnell crossed for a double, scoring his first in the sixth minute from a clever kick by fullback Brett Hodgson.

Penrith replied with three consecutive first half tries to Danny Galea, Michael Gordon and Gold Coast bound Preston Campbell.

The Panthers led 18-8 at half time after reserve-forward Chris Heighington grabbed the Tigers second four-pointer on the siren.

With the momentum on their side, the Tigers roared back into the match through Ben Galea and McDonnell.

McDonnell’s second try enabled the Tigers to edge ahead 20-18 after 50 minutes.

However, the Tigers will be without the services of Benji Marshall, who suffered a serious shoulder injury, during a second half hit-up, that is now likely to see him miss the remainder of the premiership defence.

The Panthers have their own injury worries with captain Tony Puletua suffering rib damage during the first half, while fullback Rhys Wesser hobbled off in the second half.

Next week, Penrith cross the Tasman to tackle the Warriors at Auckland on Saturday night, the Wests Tigers host the Bulldogs at Telstra Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

In other NRL matches on Super Saturday;

Cronulla has gone on a late feeding frenzy in disposing of the Newcastle Knights 26-16 at EnergyAustralia Stadium.

Tries to Beau Scott, and a second for Nigel Vagana, saw the Sharks breakout to a match winning 10-point lead with a few minutes remaining.

However, controversial decisions left the Knights outgoing coach Michael Hagan furious after his team had two clear cut tries disallowed.

Anthony Quinn’s first half double saw the Knights take a 10-0 lead to the sheds, however, the Sharks replied inside the opening five minutes of the second half through Vagana, after a superb flick pass from Greg Bird, and Brett Kearney.

With Luke Covell’s accurate conversions, the sharks led 12-10. In typical fashion the Knights soldiered on and reclaimed the lead in the 50th minute when Craig Smith dived over the line.

St George-Illawarra’s impressive surge towards the top continued after they roped in the lacklustre North Queensland Cowboys 34-14 at WIN Stadium.

Donning the red of Illawarra for the clash, halfback Matthew Head and two-try hero Matt Cooper were amongst the best for the Dragons.

A series of perfectly timed kicks from Head led to four of the six Dragons’ tries.

For the victory, the Dragons move inside the top four, alongside Cronulla and two games adrift from the table-topping Melbourne Storm. The Cowboys have now lost six in a row.

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