Penrith steal victory over Bulldogs

The Penrith Panthers have recorded their second victory of the 2014 NRL season as Matt Moylan secured victory after the siren to defeat the Bulldogs 18-16 at Sportingbet Stadium.



Thunderstorms threatened across the afternoon in Penrith, however, the skies held off.

Jamie Soward's kicking and passing game was the difference between the two teams. Soward's boot saw Dean Whare score a spectacular four-pointer as he dived over in the western corner courtesy of a Dave Simmons offload. The Panthers jumped to 4-0 after 5 minutes.

The Panthers made it a 10-0 lead mid-way through the first half as Simmons beat Corey Thompson (Bulldogs) over the try line as Soward's well placed kick saw Penrith post their second try.

Truly against the run of play, the Bulldogs through Trent Hodkinson managed to claim their first points. Josh Morris and Drury Low linked together with their halfback to turn defence into attack.



The Panthers the stronger of the two sides despite a close scoreline after 40 minutes, they took a 10-6 lead into the sheds at half time.

Matt Moylan opted for a penalty goal shortly into the second half to give the Panthers a six point lead. 48 minutes lapsed, Penrith 12-6.

A turn of momentum saw the Bulldogs fight their way back into the match. Corey Thompson was solid for the blue and whites and his efforts rewards as he dived over in the eastern corner to lock the game up at 12-all.

The Bulldogs hit the lead for the first time in the 70th minute as Drury Low finished off a great scrum play to cross in the corner. The Panthers fans sweating in the stands in Penrith as the Bulldogs led 16-12 inside the final ten minutes.

The door was left open for the Panthers to steal victory as the conversion from Trent Hodkinson was missed.

Kevin Naiqama had a good performance on the wing for the Panthers and thanks to a brilliant floating pass from Man of the match, Jamie Soward, he stepped inside the Bulldogs defenders to lock the game at 16-all in the final minute of play.

A world of pressure was placed on the shoulders of Matt Moylan has he lined up a conversion to win the game for Penrith from the western sideline. Moylan, struck it beautifully to hand the Panthers an 18-16 victory after the full time siren had sounded.

The Bulldogs not good enough to finish off the Panthers pack as they lose their second match of 2014. Next week the Panthers, head to meet western rivals the Parramatta Eels at Pirtek Stadium. Meanwhile Canterbury return home to ANZ Stadium as they prepare to host the Melbourne Storm.

Match Details
Penrith Panthers 18 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 16
Venue: Sportingbet Stadium Penrith
Crowd: 13291
Halftime Score: Penrith Panthers 10 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 6

LeagueUnlimited.com Players of the Match:
3 points - Jamie Soward
2 points - David Simmons
1 point - Josh Reynolds

PENRITH PANTHERS (18)
Tries: Dean Whare, David Simmons, Kevin Naiqama
Field Goals:
Conversions: Matt Moylan (2/3)
Penalty Goals: Matt Moylan (1/1)

CANTERBURY-BANKSTOWN BULLDOGS (16)
Tries: Trent Hodkinson, Corey Thompson, Drury Low
Field Goals:
Conversions: Trent Hodkinson (2/3)
Penalty Goals:

LeagueUnlimited.com Live Commentary

Welcome to a stormy Sportingbet Stadium in Penrith as the Panthers host the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs.
LATE MAIL is in for the Bulldogs with two change to the visitors. Tim Lafai replacing the injured Mitch Brown in the centres. Brown has been ruled out with an ankle injury. Chase Stanley has also been replaced through injury, Drury Low has been called into starting side.

Final team changes have been confirmed for the Panthers with Josh Mansour being ruled out along with Peter Wallace. David Simmons and Isaac John come into the Panthers pack.

Michael Ennis won the coin toss for the Bulldogs and they will kick off in the first half.

1: We are UNDERWAY here at Sportingbet Stadium in Penrith as the Bulldogs kick off through Trent Hodkinson

1: Jamie Soward kicks to complete the first set for the Panthers, a good control set to start as Sam Perrett wraps up the ball on his own 10 metre line

2: Mistake from the Bulldogs off the kick from Jamie Soward gives the Panthers a full set on the Bulldogs goal line.

4: VIDEO REFEREE for the Panthers, Dean Whare has scored for the Panthers in the corner off an offload from Dave Simmons.

4: TRY PENRITH PANTHERS
Scored by Dean Whare. Kick to come.
Dean Whare gets GREEN LIGHTS as he dives in the corner off a brilliant quick offload from Dave Simmons. The Panthers running hard on the back of the Soward cross field kick.

5: UNSUCCESSFUL CONVERSION PENRITH PANTHERS
Conversion attempt by Matt Moylan unsuccessful.
Matt Moylan from the western sideline pushes the conversion to the left of the uprights.

7: Trent Hodkinson controls things on the back of the Bulldogs set as he fires the kick long downfield. Scrum packs for Panthers 20 metres off their own goal line.

9: Frank Pritchard saves the day for the Bulldogs as he dives on the loose ball from the Panthers as they run on the last which almost save Lewis Brown claim the Panthers second try

11: Penalty goes to the Panthers as Dave Simmons was denied an opportunity to take the bomb on the goal line. Josh Morris the cause of the penalty as Penrith attack 10 metres out.

12: VIDEO REFEREE for the Panthers, Adam Docker gets NO TRY from referee Ben Cummins.

14: NO TRY awarded as replays showed Adam Docker losing the ball over the goal line. Scrum feed packs for the Bulldogs 10 metres off the Panthers goal line

14: Trent Hodkinson fires a long kick under the posts and it bounces dead, 20 metre restart ruled for the Panthers.

15: Sam Perrett under pressure comes up with a great take of the Soward bomb on last tackle. Penrith applying pressure in defence as they hold the Bulldogs deep in their own half.

17: Penalty awarded to Isaac John as the Bulldogs fail to release from the ruck. Jamie Soward kicks for the sideline and Penrith attack 30 metres out

18: Trent Hodkinson came up with an intercept and bolted 40 metres before being tackled. However, the spread across the field saw Tim Lafai unable to hold possession as he was tackled from behind.

18: Third penalty goes to the Panthers as the Bulldogs attempt to slow down the ruck. Soward kicks for touch and the Panthers attack on halfway

20: TRY PENRITH PANTHERS
Scored by David Simmons. Kick to come.
David Simmons leaps above Corey Thompson off a well placed cross field kick from Jamie Soward to post the second Penrith try. The Panthers running all over the Bulldogs as they gain metres so easily

21: SUCCESSFUL CONVERSION PENRITH PANTHERS
Conversion attempt by Matt Moylan successful.
Matt Moylan from the same position as his first attempt, this time successful as he guides the ball between the uprights.

22: Fourth straight penalty against the Bulldogs as they fail to clear the ruck again. Panthers 40 metres off their own line.

23: Tyrone Peachey looking to link with Jamal Idris is called back as the pass to him was ruled forward. Scrum feed packs for the Bulldogs on halfway

27: TRY CANTERBURY-BANKSTOWN BULLDOGS
Scored by Trent Hodkinson. Kick to come.
Trent Hodkinson races away 40 metres off a brilliant inside-outside running play from Josh Morris and Drury Low. The try comes truly against the run of play as the Panthers covering defence unable to stop the run.

28: SUCCESSFUL CONVERSION CANTERBURY-BANKSTOWN BULLDOGS
Conversion attempt by Trent Hodkinson successful.
Trent Hodkinson from the western sideline nails the conversion to close the gap to four points

28: The Bulldogs awarded their first penalty of the match for a crowding of the ruck from the Panthers following points. The Bulldogs attack on halfway

30: Penalty to the Panthers for offside from a kick. Soward finds the sideline, Penrith begin their set 30 metres off their own goal line

33: VIDEO REFEREE for the Panthers, Dave Simmons is claiming a try but Ben Cummins has ruled NO TRY. Looking at the sideline as he dived for the corner.

34: NO TRY is called as Corey Thompson did brilliantly to dive over the top of Simmons and force him over the sideline before grounding the ball.

36: 20 metres tap call for the Bulldogs as the kick from Soward rolled dead as Peachey looked to knock the ball dead. Morris watched it dead to earn the 20 metre tap.

36: Corey Thompson fires a kick downfield looking to send Hodkinson chasing, but the ball bets everyone over the sideline. Scrum for Panthers 10 metres off their own goal line.

37: Jeremy Latimore trying to play the ball quickly has come up with a mistake, scrum for the Bulldogs just shy of the halftime.

40: Jamie Soward fires cross field kick on the last tackle, Simmons was pushed off the ball by Thompson and no penalty followed. Josh Morris captured the ball and ran 20 metres before being covered up.

40: HALF TIME at Sportingbet Stadium has seen a fast running Penrith pack take a 10-6 lead over the Bulldogs into the sheds.

40: Second half is UNDERWAY at Sportingbet Stadium as the Penrith side lead the Bulldogs 10-6.

41: First penalty to the Bulldogs to start the second half, Michael Ennis gets a penalty for a leg pull from Tyrone Peachey. Bulldogs attack from a tap 30 metres out from the Panthers goal line.

41: Josh Morris tapped a quick pass across field to Corey Thompson but it lands at the feet of the touch judge. Panthers defence are let off the hook as the Bulldogs attack fails to come together. Scrum feed packs for the Panthers 20 metres off their own try line.

43: Tim Grant charging forward through the Bulldogs pack but he came to Sam Perrett and the ball came free. Scrum for the Bulldogs 20 metres short of halfway

46: UNFORCED ERROR PENRITH PANTHERS
Jamie Soward makes an unforced error.
Jamie Soward fumbling the ball as he looked to kick away on the last tackle. Bulldogs scrum feed on halfway

47: UNFORCED ERROR CANTERBURY-BANKSTOWN BULLDOGS
Pat O'Hanlon makes an unforced error.
Pat O'Hanlon from the first pass out of the scrum is unable to hold onto possession. Scrum packs for Penrith on halfway

47: VIDEO REFEREE for the Panthers, Tyrone Peachey has a TRY. Looking for how Panthers came up with the ball.

47: Elijah Taylor has spilled the ball as the Panthers spread the ball across the field through hands of Isaac John. Penalty however goes to Penrith as Josh Reynolds tackled him without the ball in hand.

48: SUCCESSFUL PENALTY GOAL PENRITH PANTHERS
Penalty goal attempt by Matt Moylan successful.
Matt Moylan is successful with the conversion attempt extends the lead for the Panthers to make it a 6 point gap

50: James Segeyaro has had the ball helped free by Pat O'Hanlon but no penalty comes. Scrum for the Bulldogs packs 5 metres short of halfway

52: VIDEO REFEREE for the Bulldogs, we have a possible TRY for Tim Lafai

53: Tim Lafai has been denied as he raced for the corner but planted his foot on the sideline before bouncing the ball over the try line. Scrum for the Panthers 10 metres off their own line.

54: Penalty to the Bulldogs as Adam Docker is ON REPORT for a lifting tackle on James Graham.

58: Forward pass has been called as Frank Pritchard looked to charge into a hole of the Panthers defence. Hodkinson provided the pass which gives the Panthers a scrum feed 10 metres off their own goal line.

59: UNFORCED ERROR PENRITH PANTHERS
Nigel Plum makes an unforced error.
Nigel Plum is unable to hold onto possession as the Panthers spread. Bulldogs with a scrum feed just shy of halfway

60: Adam Docker is ruled to have knocked the ball out of the hands of Tony Williams. Bulldogs with another chance, scrum feed packs for the Bulldogs 40 metres out from the Penrith try line

62: Line drop out is called for the Bulldogs as Lewis Brown was trapped in goal as their defence muscles up.

64: A kick from Hodkinson deflects off the boot of Nigel Plum but no zero tackle called. A let off for the Panthers defence on their goal line. Change over 10 metres off their own try line

66: TRY CANTERBURY-BANKSTOWN BULLDOGS
Scored by Corey Thompson. Kick to come.
Corey Thompson dives over in the eastern corner as he takes a short pass from Josh Reynolds. A difficult kick to come from the sideline.

67: SUCCESSFUL CONVERSION CANTERBURY-BANKSTOWN BULLDOGS
Conversion attempt by Trent Hodkinson successful.
Hodkinson nails the conversion into the setting sun on the eastern side to lock the game up at 12-all

68: Hodkinson fires a pass to his winger in Thompson looking for their third try, but the pass goes to his boots and knocked on.

68: UNFORCED ERROR PENRITH PANTHERS
David Simmons makes an unforced error.
Dave Simmons is monstered in a tackle by James Graham and he is unable to keep possession. Scrum for the Bulldogs packs 25 metres out from the Panthers try line.

70: TRY CANTERBURY-BANKSTOWN BULLDOGS
Scored by Drury Low. Kick to come.
Drury Low finishes off a great run play from the scrum as he is left to score in the western corner untouched. The Bulldogs hit the lead for the first time this afternoon

70: UNSUCCESSFUL CONVERSION CANTERBURY-BANKSTOWN BULLDOGS
Conversion attempt by Trent Hodkinson unsuccessful.
Trent Hodkinson misses his first conversion from the western sideline which keeps the Panthers in the match and a chance for them to steal it.

77: Penalty to the Panthers for a massive high tackle from Tony Williams on David Williams with a lazy arm. Penrith with possession.

78: Second penalty to the Panthers as Kevin Kingston was tackled without possession. Penrith kick for the sideline and they attack 20 metres out

78: TRY PENRITH PANTHERS
Scored by Kevin Naiqama. Kick to come.
Kevin Naiqama has taken a brilliant floating pass from Jamie Soward and he stepped inside away from the Bulldogs defence in Drury Low to lock the game up.

80: SUCCESSFUL CONVERSION PENRITH PANTHERS
Conversion attempt by Matt Moylan successful.
Matt Moylan from the western sideline, to win the game, slots the conversion to give the Panthers the two pojnts

80: FULL TIME at Sportingbet Stadium has seen the Penrith Panthers claim victory after the siren with the conversion of Moylan to defeat the Bulldogs, 18-16