Burton blitzes Bondi boys

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Sydney Roosters v Penrith Panthers

Matt Burton was untouchable either side of halftime and was the difference between the two sides as Penrith held out the Roosters 20-14 at Suncorp Stadium.

Both sides were playing end-to-end football and displaying solid goal-line defence in a rather entertaining 10 minutes, before Penrith opened the scoring. Viliami Kikau sent a long ball to Matt Burton, who got outside the cramped Roosters defence, then put a big step on to beat James Tedesco then ran 45 metres to score a great try. Burton then converted his own try.

The Roosters responded in the 19th minute when Sam Verrills sent a stunning flat ball to his lead runner Victor Radley, who fell over the line to score under the posts. Adam Keighran converted to level the scores.

Burton kicked a penalty goal in the 24th minute after Sam Walker was penalised for being an escort.

In the 33rd minute Jared Waerea-Hargreaves was sent to the sin bin for 10 minutes after the Roosters had conceded several penalties and set restarts in succession.

A minute later and Penrith shifted the ball right to Paul Momirovski, who ran at the gap between the two edge defenders and slam dunked the ball down for a try. Burton's sideline conversion hit the upright and was waved away.

Right on halftime, Kikau got hit with a shoulder charge by Sitili Tupouniua (who was put on report). Burton kicked the penalty goal to give Penrith a 14-6 lead at the break.

The second half saw Penrith continue their scoring two plays after Burton made a great break. Matt Burton at first receiver on the left, stepped back and straightened then hit the hole he created to score to the left of the posts. Great solo try. Burton converted.

The hour mark saw the Roosters work their way back into the game, when James Tedesco sent a lovely cut-out ball to Joey Manu who dived over to score in the corner. Keighran failed to convert.

The Roosters scored again shortly after when Angus Crichton got outside his defender, isolated the Panthers winger, then passed to Daniel Tupou who scored in the corner. Keighran again failed to convert from the wide angle.

Some frantic and often panicked play from both sides when in great attacking position dominated the final minutes of the game, but Penrith hung on to get the chocolates.