Saturday 13th March at Credit Union Australia Stadium
Penrith 34 – Tries: Coote (2), Elford (1), Kingston (1), Plum (1), Purtell (1); Goals: Gordon (5) | Canberra 16
More: http://mightypanthers.webs.com/match1005.htm
The Panthers opened the scoring in the 13th minute with a try to Shane Elford.
The home team built on their lead through tries to club debutants Nigel Plum and Kevin Kingston, and when Michael Gordon converted Lachlan Coote’s try on the half hour mark, Penrith had a 22-0 lead which they took into the half time break.
However, the Raiders would strike back in the second half, crossing for the next three tries to narrow the Panthers lead to 6 with just over 20 minutes remaining.
In the 62nd minute, another club debutant Adrian Purtell grabbed a 100 metre intercept try to increase the buffer, and then they iced the contest with 5 minutes remaining with a second try to Coote to record their first opening round victory since 2000.
