Roosters make it two from two as Panthers run out of
breath

Fulltime score: Round 2 Panthers 20 v Roosters 28

Match summary The Sydney Roosters have run out victors by the tune of 28-20 over the Penrith Panthers at Penrith Park this afternoon in fromt of a crowd of over 18,000 people.

The Roosters were always in control and although not at their best, they were impressive enough to beat a disappointing Panthers side who look short of match fitness after recording their second consectutive loss that sees them anchored to the bottom of the table with the Dragons and Knights.

The Roosters are slowly building momentum and with new combinations in the halves yet to fire on all cylinders, the Roosters can take comfort that once they reach their best they will again be a force to be reckoned with in season 2005.

Ryan Cross was the Rooster best, bagging himself a double including an intercept try while Chris Flannery and Craig Wing both played fine supporting roles in the win.

For the Panthers, their forwards were again sluggish while Preston Campbell had an unhappy day, capped off with an easy miss besdie the posts that could have narrowed the Roosters lead to six points late in the game. Too many balls did not stick and the last pass was more often than not found on the turf,not in the hands of the players who can convert chances into points.

Scorers: PANTHERS 20 Tries: Clayton, Franze, Waterhouse, Lewis Goals: Campbell 2/4

defeated by

ROOSTERS 28 Tries: Cross x 2, Wing, Firman, Roberts Goals: Fitzgibbon 4/5

By the clock: 1st min: We are underway at Penrith Park for a clash between traditional rivals Penrith and the Roosters.

6th min: No score with Brett Firman still yet to tune his radar for his kicking game.

9th min: TRY - Roosters. Ryan Cross opens the Roosters account as the Panthers continue to struggle to keep up with the play. Conversion successful. Roosters 6-0.

20th min: Penrith applying plenty of pressure on the Roosters line but the Chooks haven't wilted....yet! No change in the score in front of a full house.

21st min: TRY - Panthers. Trent Clayton makes a monkey out of me by scoring off a Craig Gower cross field kick. Conversion successful. 6 all.

24th min: TRY - Roosters. Craig Wing extends the Roosters lead in a very close and hard fought contest. Conversion successful. Roosters 12-6.

30th min: TRY - Roosters. Brett Firman crosses after Joel Monaghan managed to stand in the tackle and send Firman over for the try with the Panthers looking a shadow of the side of the past two seasons. Conversion successful. Roosters 18-6.

35th min: TRY - Panthers. Paul Franze causes a frenzy a Penrith Park with a try out wide. The try came on the back of a Chris walker error (surprised??) and Walker missed the tackle to let Franze in to score. Conversion unsuccuessful. Roosters 18-10.

HALF TIME: The Roosters hold a comfortable eight point lead going into half time but the Panthers looked much better in the final ten minutes of the first half. The game is there for the taking but can Penrith capitalise on the Roosters errors or will the Roosters continue on their winning ways? Adrian Morley is on report for a high tackle in the 28th minute of play.

41st min: We are underway in the second half.

45th min: TRY - Panthers. Trent Waterhouse barges over from dummy half to close the gap and put the Panthers right back in the contest. Conversion successful. Roosters 18-16.

48th min: TRY - Roosters. Former Panther Amos Roberts takes an intercept off Luke Priddis to race 65 metres to score and give the Roosters a comfortable lead. Conversion unsuccessful. Roosters 22-16.

52nd min: TRY - Roosters. Another intercept try to Ryan Cross this time and they extend their lead with Fitzgibbon landing an easy conversion. Roosters 28-16.

63rd min: No change in the scoreline but the Panthers are doing themselves no favours with elementary mistakes while the Roosters defence is proving too tough to crack today.

70th min: No change in the scoreline but the Panthers ball handling has been extremely poor and they still look very unfit as they struggle to keep up with the pace of the game.

71st min: TRY - Luke Lewis scores after Craig Gower drops a kick in behind the try line. The game is not over yet but it will take a big effort for the Panthers to get home after Preston Campbell misses a relatively easy conversion. Roosters 28-20.

FULL TIME: The Roosters remain unbeaten in season 2005 with a workman like performance over a disppointing Panthers outfit who still need some match fitness to be a force in 2005.

----------------------------------------- Leagueunlimited.com players of the match: 3 - Ryan Cross (Roosters) 2 - Chris Flannery (Roosters) 1 - Craig Wing (Roosters) -----------------------------------------