Penrith punish rusty Roosters
14 hours ago | Aidan Edgecomb
Parramatta have finished a week of controversy with their finals hopes all but dashed, after dropping a 14-0 early lead and losing 22-18 to Penrith at Pepper Stadium today.
After another week headlined by controversy, the Eels came out of the blocks in extraordinary fashion, racing out to a 14-0 lead after just 16 minutes. But once the Panthers cleaned up their errors and defence, 16 unanswered points in the second half would see the Panthers seemingly end the 2016 season of the brave Eels.
When it seemed as if Parramatta would flounder under the weight of the most recent revelations and movements on their board, they opened the Battle of the West in spectacular fashion. A questionable penalty early on would give the Eels good field possession, and Penrith's defence failed their first real test with Bureta Faraimo crossing out wide in the 2nd minute.
Penrith's defence was looking shaky and a string of errors did them no good, with Bevan French pouncing to score in the 13th minute. And off the back of that, Penrith's defence fell apart again with Jennings splitting them and Gutherson scoring under the posts. Penrith showed promise in attack, yet errors were killing them early.
A couple of penalties would give Penrith their first real attempt at the Eels' line and Reagan Campbell-Gillard would barge over to reduce the deficit. Parramatta looked to have crossed again after a poor pass from Cartwright was dropped, but luckily for Penrith an obstruction was ruled.
Yet, an injury to Reagan Campbell-Gillard would open up Penrith and Parramatta would take advantage with French grabbing his second before the break. Luckily for the Mountain Men, however, Gordon only kicked one conversion in the opening 40, with Parramatta leading 18-6 at the break. It would be interesting to see how Penrith would respond with Bryce Cartwright's performance particularly leaving much to be desired, with many calling for the talented ball player to return to his preferred position in the second row.
However, it was a monster second half from the Panthers which set up an incredible 22-18 come from behind victory. Much of their success was built upon a timely injury to centre Michael Jennings, with stop-gap fill-in Beau Scott found out on a number of occasions defending in the centres, in an effort which brought back memories of the infamous game in which Kyle Lovett was forced to do the same. A couple of errors and penalties gifted Penrith early field possession and Tyrone Peachey streaked away for a try very early on in the 2nd half.
A dropped ball from Faraimo saw Cartwright weave his magic and slide over in the corner in the 47th minute. It seemed a reversal of the first half with another Parramatta error giving Josh Mansour the opportunity to give Penrith the lead in the 53rd minute. Penrith continued to build and looked ominous late, but butchered a couple of key opportunities. Momentum would swing temporarily with Parramatta looking like levelling it up, but Penrith would demonstrate brave defence and somehow hold out a resilient Parramatta side and in the end secure a 22-18 thriller.
Next week, Penrith will need to improve and play for the full 80 minutes when they travel to Suncorp Stadium on Friday night to face the Broncos whilst with their season now over, it will be interesting to see how Parramatta respond against the Titans at Cbus Super Stadium on Saturday night who will look to cement their spot in the Top 8.
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