The Dragons fought hard to give themselves a chance late but went down to the Panthers 40-30 in their Jersey Flegg match-up at Collegians on Saturday.
After falling behind 22-0 in the first half, Shane Millard’s men fought furiously to drag themselves back into cutting the deficit back to four late largely off the back of halfback Kade Reed’s boot.
They had a late opportunity to snatch the competition points but ultimately fell short with Penrith nabbing a late try to secure the win.
Match: Dragons v Panthers
Round 15 -
home Team
Dragons
9th Position
away Team
Panthers
5th Position
Venue: Collegians Sporting Complex, Wollongong
Penrith earnt a quick opportunity courtesy of a daring, opening kick-off with five-eighth Tuaomaliemavaitoelau Patea stepping his way to the stripe off it to make it 4-0 before the Dragons had touched the football.
A yardage penalty the next set sent the visitors straight back into Dragons territory and Jakeb Vailalo made them pay pouring through a hole to crash over and make it a double-digit advantage before the home side had gotten their hands on the football.
The Panthers’ relentless start continued with fullback Jirah Liddiard crossing off a fifth-tackle inside ball to push the lead out to 16 a quarter of the way in.
Penrith went in search of more points soon after, but a desperate Saifiti Junior Saifiti cover effort helped to repel the raid.
Lachlan Weir claimed a try for the Red V moments later but was denied with the official ruling a knock-on in the grounding attempt.
The Panthers took the 20-metre restart and matched down the other end with Bayden Moran scoring off a fifth-tackle crash play to make it an even handier edge for the visiting side.
The Dragons were able to wrestle some momentum back prior to the break with Reed hitting Drew Langdon short to put his hard-running back rower over to score.
The hosts surged straight back down the field their next set thanks in part to a damaging Viliami Amone carry.
Reed crafted an extraordinary chip-and-chase the following play and found Lyric Craft-Te Moananui to make it back-to-back tries for the Red V prior to the break.
The Dragons were forced into a second-half re-shuffle with fullback Wes Pring succumbing to an apparent lower leg injury forcing Tyler Peckham-Harris to the back and Shadi Hammoud into the halves in what his first Jersey Flegg outing of the season.
Penrith notched the first points of the second stanza off the back of a Dragons yardage error with Judah Galuvao muscling his way over to the left of the sticks.
The Dragons found a quick response with Reed’s boot again finding a result as the shrewd No.7 weighted a deft kick for Hammoud who showed poise to control the ball and get it to the grass.
Reed remained perfect from the tee to cut the deficit back to 28-18.
Patea claimed his second for the visitors soon after but was denied due to a forward pass.
They were able to score however off the back of an offload which had been batted down with Harry Armstrong picking up the crumbs to dive over and extend the lead back beyond a pair of converted tries.
The Dragons found a needed next try in similar fashion with Reed getting the ball off the back of a determined Leeroy Weatherall carry and manufacturing a perfect cross-field for Craft-Te Moananui who climbed to ladder to snatch his second of the match and bring it back to 34-24 with 13 minutes to play.
Jersey Flegg Cup Highlights: Round 15 v Panthers
Reed put up a towering bomb to end the next set with the Dragons chasers throwing a Panther into touch to earn an attacking chance.
Booster by a set restart, the Dragons managed to score through Saifiti who finished off a slick left-side shift to bring them within four.
Any hopes of a Dragons fightback were dashed with three minutes on the clock as Armstrong dove over for his second.
